A Darkened World
by sprinter1988
Summary: Hermione and Ron both leave Harry behind in the tent. Neither return, and were among the few to escape Britain when Voldemort took over. Years later, their daughter Rose has joined an ICW operation that tries to stop Voldemort's power from spreading beyond Europe. However things take an unexpected turn when she discovers what became of Harry Potter. Ron Bashing and Deaths.
1. The Exodus of Ron and Hermione

_A/N: Hi. Welcome to my new story: A Darkened World. The basic idea of this is that Hermione goes with Ron when he abandon's Harry in Deathly Hallows. They, along with others are driven out of Britain by Voldemort's forces. Years later, their daughter Rose discovers just what has become of Harry._

_Please note that this story will contain more than a few aspects that are either inspired by or parodies of scenes from The Lord of the Rings. But then let's face it; Harry Potter is very similar to The Lord of the Rings anyway (The One Ring/Horcruxes, Wormtongue/Wormtail, Proudfoot the Auror and Proudfoot the Hobbit family, Neville Longbottom and Longbottom leaf… I could go on, but not for one minute shall I compare Dumbledore with Gandalf coz Gandalf wins hands down!)_

_Anyway…_

* * *

A Darkened World

Chapter 1: The Exodus of Ron and Hermione

The night was a dark one. Dense black clouds blocked out the light of the moon and stars, and across most of Britain rain was hammering down hard. It was the kind of thing that soaked every animal to the bone in seconds. It was the kind of rain that could turn a road into a virtual river within half an hour. And the wind was the kind of wind that could hurl tiles off of a roof. It was the kind of wind that could make even the strongest of tree branches creek and groan. It was the kind of wind that made the rain appear to travel horizontally, so that it would pelt you in the face with such force that it almost feels more like a hailstorm.

But as vicious as the storm outside was, its force was nothing in comparison the opposing explosions of rage that were being unleashed inside a small tent that sat hidden near a riverbank in Wales.

After nearly two whole months Harry Potter had had enough of Ronald Weasley. Ever since they had had to abandon Grimmauld Place for this tent, Ron's moaning and whinging had rapidly gotten worse and worse. The red-headed boy rarely did anything of use these days, and instead took to moaning and sniping about their living conditions, their lack of food and Harry's apparent lack of information. Take earlier this evening, for example: low on food, Harry had gone out and caught a fish from the nearby river so that they could have something to eat. Granted all he managed to catch was a pike, and they don't make for good eating, but it was better than the nothing that they would have otherwise. Hermione, who admittedly was not the best of cooks in the world, had done what she could to prepare and cook it properly. And Ron? He sat around moping and moaning about not being able to help out as his arm was still injured from the splinching he received when they escaped the Ministry (Harry suspected that the git was faking in order to try and garner some sympathy from Hermione, as it had, after all been two months since Ron had been hurt.)

Then, when the roasted pike was set onto the table before him, and they all sat down to eat what little there was for them to share between them, what had Ron done? He had prodded and poked at the lumps of fish on his plate with his fork before making an asinine comment about how well his mother could cook. That, of course, had set Hermione off on a rant that had, of course, caused Ron to bite back. Things had only gotten worse from there, and now Ron's self-centred longing for a bacon sandwich and the comfort of his own bed at home was mixing itself with his disappointment at the lack of information that Harry had at his disposal before being spewed forth from his mouth in a horrendous diatribe of spiteful comments and unfounded accusations.

And Harry, disappointed with the lack of information that they had to go on, exhausted from over work and lack of sleep, paranoid about the conversations that Ron and Hermione regularly held behind his back, tortured by the horrors of Voldemort's reign and downright pissed off at Ron's whole attitude was raging back at him, every bitter emotion and twisted thought being unleashed upon a person who, quite frankly, had done everything in the past two months to deserve being on the receiving end of it all.

**-[Some quotes here from the Deathly Hallows book and film]-**

"It's not like I'm not having the time of my life here, with my arm mangled and nothing to eat," Ron ranted.

"Is that all you can think about? Your bloody stomach?" Harry bit out

"And freezing my backside off every night" Ron continued as though Harry had said nothing "I just hoped, you know, after we'd been running round a few weeks, we'd have achieved something."

Hermione tried to interrupt, but she could not get through the overflowing rage seeping off of the two, now most likely former friends

"So what part isn't living up to your expectations? Did you think we'd be staying in five star hotels? Finding a Horcrux every other day? Did you think you'd be back to Mummy by Christmas?"

"We thought you knew what you were doing! We thought Dumbledore had told you what to do, we thought you had a real plan!"

Hermione tried to interrupt again, but she was ignored again.

"Well sorry to let you down. I've been straight with you from the start; I told you everything that Dumbledore told me. And in case you haven't noticed, we've found one Horcrux-"

"Yeah, and we're about as near to getting rid of it as we are to finding the rest of them – nowhere effing near, in other words!"

At this Hermione broke in "Take of the locket, Ron," she said, referring to the one Horcrux that they had found: the locket that once belonged to Hogwarts founder Salazar Slytherin "You wouldn't be talking like this if you weren't wearing it…"

"Yeah he would," snapped Harry, who wanted no excuses made for Ron "Do you think I haven't noticed you whispering behind my back-"

"Harry, we weren't-"

"Don't lie!" Ron yelled "You said it too; how you thought he had more to go on-"

"I didn't say it like that - Harry, I didn't."

"Then why are you still here?" Harry demanded of Ron.

"Search me."

"Go home then! Run off to Mummy."

"Didn't you hear what they said?" asked Ron in a vicious tone. He was referring to the conversations of several runaways that they had overheard earlier in the day "Didn't you hear what they said about my sister? You don't give a rat's fart do you? It's only the Forbidden Forest, and Harry _I've Faced Worse _Potter doesn't care what happens to her in there, with all the giant spiders and-"

"You think I don't know how it feels?" demanded Harry.

"No you don't know how it feels." Ron raged back "Your parents are dead. You have no family."

And with those words, any last frail threads that might have been used to one day repair Harry and Ron's friendship were broken. Harry could have overlooked the rest, eventually. He could have put it all aside as things said in anger, under the influence of the Horcrux's evil energy, but those words could never be forgiven.

Harry did not remember moving, all he knew was that Ron's nose made a satisfying crunching sound as it broke under the force of his fist. Blood gushed from the broken nose, and Ron reeled back, clutching at his face as he howled in pain. Then he turned and lunged, his own fists pummelling Harry's body as Harry landed heavy blows about the red-heads head and at least two blows to the kidneys.

"Stop! Stop!" cried Hermione, who threw herself on them in an effort to get them to break apart.

Not wanting to hurt her, Harry shoved Ron away before stumbling back. He clutched at his side as he looked up. Hermione had her back to Ron, with her arms outstretched. To Harry it appeared as if she was protecting Ron from him. The bitterness and anger within him quickly began to boil over once again at the sight.

"Fine then." he spat venomously "Go. Go then. Go back to them and pretend you've got over your spattergroit. Then Mummy will be able to feed you up-"

Ron snatched up his wand, and Harry quickly had his own in his hand. But before either of them could cast a spell, Hermione's own wand was already in motion "Protego."

The invisible shield created by the spell sprang up between Harry and Ron, with Hermione on Ron's side of it.

Harry felt nothing towards Ron apart from a corrosive hatred.

"Leave the Horcrux, Worm."

Ron's temper flared at the name, it was blindingly obvious that Harry used it to not only compare Ron to Wormtail, the man who had betrayed Harry's parents to Lord Voldemort, but also it was a dig at how Ron and his family had unknowingly harboured that man, keeping him safe for twelve years.

Ron wrenched the golden chain from around his neck and threw the locket into a nearby chair. He then rounded on Hermione.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"Wha-what do you mean?" she stammered out. Harry noted for the first time that she had a bloody lip. He had no way to prove it, but he was certain that it had not been he who had hit her.

"Are you staying or what?" snapped Ron.

There was an interesting question, one that Harry instantly dreaded the answer to.

A look of anguish came over her face "I-" she stammered "I-"

And with that moment of indecision on her part, Harry knew what he needed to know. No matter what she said now, the fact that she could even consider running away with Ron rather than stay and help Harry would just cause things to deteriorate between them as well.

But her indecision had a similar effect on Ron. The mere hint of her wanting to stay here in this hellhole with Harry rather than retreat to a safer and more comfortable place with Ron said to the red-head that she was in love with Harry, and not him.

"I get it." he said, before Harry could "You choose him."

"Ron, no – please – come back, come back!"

Ron stormed out of the tent, and Hermione sped after him. Harry tried to follow, but Hermione's shield charm impeded his movements. It took him a few moments to get rid of it, and by the time he got outside, Ron and Hermione were already nearing the perimeter of their campsite. Harry ran forward to… well, he didn't know what to do, he just ran forward. But he had barely gone ten steps when Ron and Hermione passed through the protective charms that hid their campsite from others, and then they vanished. Disapparated.

They had gone. Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger, the two best friends of Harry Potter, the two people to whom he had told everything, the two people who were supposed to stick by him and help him save the world had now abandoned him, leaving him next to a soon-to-be overflowing river in Wales, in the middle of a terrible storm. They were gone. Gone just like Dumbledore was gone. Just like Sirius. Just like Lily and James, Harry's parents. All gone, leaving him to face his fate alone.

Harry wanted to shout. He wanted to scream. He wanted to rant and rave, to punch something, to hex something, but he knew it would do no good. It wouldn't even make him feel better.

He had to get out of the rain.

He turned back towards the tent. His right hand came up and closed itself over the pain in his side. It felt as though Ron had broken a couple of his ribs in the fight, though the pain of such an injury was no knew experience to Harry, thanks to his bastard of an uncle, Vernon Dursley and his son Dudley.

Inside the tent, Harry shook his wet hair out of his eyes and looked around the tent. There were Ron and Hermione's beds, never to be occupied again. On the table lay the now stone cold remains of their meagre dinner, and nearby sat Hermione's beaded bag, and her book 'The Tales of Beadle the Bard', and Ron's deluminator. At least in their hurry to abandon him, they had left behind the items that Dumbledore had given them in order to aid them in this little quest.

Harry turned his gaze away from the table, and his eyes fell on the locket that lay in the chair. Harry scooped it up and threw the golden chain around his neck. Then he walked over to the table and opened the beaded bag. Hopefully Hermione had something, anything in here that would sort his ribs out.

He pulled out bottle after bottle and jar after jar, but to no avail. There were no potions, only ingredients. It seemed that Ron had used up their entire stock of pain-relief potion as well as all their food.

His actions became almost frantic as he pulled more and more things from the bag. Things that wouldn't help his pain. Things that he could make no use of, things that would remind him of Ron and Hermione too much… he gripped a glass phial too hard and it shattered in his hand. The glass cut into him and blood poured from the wounds. Upset, frustrated and angry Harry threw the beaded bag onto the floor, and then swept his arm across the table top, scattering everything, from books to clothes to bottles, in all directions, most of it crashing to the floor. He slumped into a chair, buried his face in his arms, and broke down completely. The tent lit up as lightning flashed outside, but he didn't notice. His heart-wrenching sobs were the only sound in the air until a rumble of thunder drowned them out.

He had the fate of the world on his shoulders, and he was all alone.

All alone.

* * *

**A/N: So what do you think? Good? Bad? It'll get better, I promise. This is just a prologue of sorts, the next chapter will pick up with an adult Rose Weasley as she does her bit to try and step Voldemort's ever spreading power and influence (in other words, about eighteen years from now). And before anyone asks, no this won't be a Harry/Rose pairing story; at least I'm not intending it to be at this point. That sort of thing will be the last thing on Rose's mind, and won't even enter into Harry's. Oh, and the events from between now and twenty years later will be told either through flashbacks, dream sequences or just talked about. And please don't flame me for Hermione's leaving with Ron. Its the only way for this story to work.**


	2. Daughter of Traitors

_Hey, thanks for the great response to the first chapter, I really appreciate it. Just a heads up to all of you, this story does have a pretty big chance of having more than a few depressing moments. Harry is going to be a changed person, who has seen a lot of terrible things. I'll try and not bring your spirits down too much with this, but should you ever feel a bit low after reading it, then by all means check out my Christmas story for a bit of humour._

_Anyway…_

* * *

A Darkened World

Daughter of Traitors

Under the cover of darkness, the group of seven witches and wizards crept soundlessly through the undergrowth, each one of them focused on the mission at hand, and at the same time utterly terrified that something, anything might suddenly go wrong. Very wrong.

The leader of this group was a man in his early forties, a moustached American with greying brown hair and a nose that looked like it had been broken several times in his life, Thomas Jameson still preferred to be addressed by the nickname T.J. He had been on missions like this one dozens of times in the past, and he had one of the best success records.

Australians Terry and Ryan Stratton were twin brothers, and were two of the best ward-breakers in the world. Natalie Johnston and Jesse Smith were both Americans as well, and were superb healers who specialised in combat healing. Mark Harper was a Canadian who was well known for his prowess in a fight.

Last was Rose Weasley, brown haired and studious, she was barely out of school. Officially she was listed as an Australian, but her parents were two Brits who had fled from their country when all hope had seemed lost in the wake of the ever growing power of the dark wizard who called himself Lord Voldemort.

Rose was no fool; she knew that she was not exactly welcome amongst this group. She was new to the force and had only been on one mission previous to this, a raid in Germany. And a raid in Germany was like pick-pocketing a dead man in comparison to a raid in Britain. Only the best went on raids to Britain, and Rose was certainly anything but the best. She was not supposed to be here, she knew that and the others knew it as well. She was a replacement, and a rather poor one at that. Some Chinese guy was meant to be here in her place, but he had been too injured in his last mission to come along. There were not many people available to replace him, given how so many others were out on separate raids, and not one of them had the skill to be a part of a team conducting a raid in the heart of Lord Voldemort's empire.

However T.J. had become a superstitious man after so many years in the job, and he firmly believed in having a seven-person team, so Rose was selected as being the best of what was available and she was brought along for the trip. She wasn't much of a dueller yet, nor much of a healer. Her eyes weren't trained quite enough to be that good of a look-out, and she didn't have the experience to be a planner. At best she could be described as "_An Extra Wand._" Of course, someone with a more cynical view of life would have referred to her as "_Cannon Fodder_."

Twenty years ago, Voldemort had managed to make his hold on Wizarding Britain absolute. Any who opposed him had to either flee or be killed. In the eight years that followed, Voldemort had waged war on Europe as a whole, first crushing the best that France, Germany and Belgium had to offer first before moving further inland. All pleas for International Assistance had been ignored, and eventually Europe in its entirety had fallen, from Sweden, Finland and Norway in the north, to Italy and Greece in the south, all fell under Voldemort's control. Then he had moved forwards into Asia. His forces, now boosted by huge numbers gained in Europe, cut their way through west and central Asia before things changed.

China and India both proved to be a shock for Voldemort's forces. The ICW might have kept quiet about the war in Europe, with many of them expecting the problem to eventually fizzle out, although the fall of both France and Germany had been a shock, when the war began to spread into Asia, they finally took notice. India and China were just two of the countries to agree to offer sanctuary to fleeing Europeans, and with them they stood together to make a stand. Voldemort's forces came upon a roadblock which they had not been expecting and they quickly retreated. Following that, India and China served as a blockade to Voldemort's forces, with wizards from the States, Canada, Australia and a good dozen other powerful wizarding regions adding to their force. With a huge, international effort, they had managed to drive Voldemort completely from all Asian countries and then Voldemort, surprisingly, abandoned much of Eastern Europe to them. His reasons were unknown, though perhaps it was to lure them in. Since then, day by day they were getting nearer and nearer to the borders of Germany.

What happened to the muggles was not really something that the ICW concerned themselves with. More than a few were known to have fled; others were known to have been enslaved. As for the rest, well let's just say that Magic really does screw with muggle technology, and Dementors breed fast. One of the last big news stories to come out of Muggle Britain before it fell was that every piece of technology found throughout the country, from electric lamps to radios, televisions and computers, to cars and to guns had all stopped functioning.

Similar stories were heard from the survivors who came from many other countries. It seemed that Voldemort had come up with some way to take the greatest powers the muggles had at their disposal away from them.

The job of this group that Rose was a part of was not to wage full-scale war on the forces of darkness. That was for people who were hundreds of miles away. The job of this group was to sneak in behind enemy lines and cause problems, problems designed to draw Voldemort's attention away from the international army that ever encroached upon his empire. They would whisk away prisoners and slaves; they would carry out assassinations and blow things up.

They had one simple ethic to their work: get in and get out. Whatever they managed to do in between was considered a bonus.

Today they had two goals in mind. They were heading to a prison that was located near the border between England and Wales. Their primary objective was to sneak in under cover of darkness and slap international port-keys onto as many prisoners as possible and get them out of there. Their secondary objective was to assassinate the Death Eater in charge of the camp, this one a man by the name of Mulciber, though really that was just wishful thinking.

Suddenly T.J. stopped and gave the signal. They were at the ward line. Terry and Ryan moved to the front to begin taking down the wards. Everyone else remained still.

Rose was crouched behind a tree, one hand resting on its trunk. In her other hand she held her wand in a tight grip as her eyes scanned the darkness that surrounded them. Not too far from her, Natalie was doing the same thing.

It seemed to take forever for the wards to come down, but when they did the group moved quickly and quietly.

All was silent in the grounds surrounding the large grey building that was the prison, and the dark windows gave no indication that anyone was up ad about inside. Terry and Ryan broke through the protections on the door with relative ease, and they were in.

A Death Eater guard stood inside the door as if to welcome them. Before he could do anything, however, T.J. killed him.

There were four levels. Rose and Natalie took the one they were on, Ryan and Jesse took the next one up, Terry and Mark the one above that and T.J. went alone to the top floor, where Mulciber was most likely to be.

Rose and Natalie rounded the first corner and spotted the guard. His back was to them, and Rose took the chance. It was no stunning spell that left the tip of her wand. Stunned Death Eaters lived to fight again. Nor was it a piercing hex or cutting curse. A bleeding Death Eater could make a lot of noise. It was the green flash of the killing curse that ended this guard's life.

Quick and quiet, just like everything else they did.

As the body hit the floor with a soft thwump, Rose and Natalie had already turned their attentions to the first two prison cells. Thankfully even the basic training Rose had received was enough to break the locks on the cell doors. Each of them took a small cloth bag from their belts and began pulling out feathers from them before handing them out to the bleary-eyed and weak prisoners. One whispered activation phrase later and all ten prisoners in each cell were whisked away.

Rose and Natalie made it through another three cells each before trouble began. First it was the sound of spell-fire coming from somewhere above them that was quickly joined by shouting. Then the sirens began.

Rose cursed under her breath. She and Natalie ran back towards the door when suddenly it burst open. The pair threw themselves against the wall, hiding themselves from view as half a dozen Death Eaters charged in. Hearing their thundering footsteps as they charged upstairs, Rose and Natalie shared a look before diving out from behind their protection. Their spells caught the last two Death Eaters in their backs, and the two women made their way up the staircase. In situations like this they were supposed to flee, but it was not in either of them to do so. Natalie was a healer, and if any of them were hurt it was her job to help them. And Rose knew that in order for her to do that job Natalie would need some cover.

Up on the next floor they found Jesse dead. So was another Death Eater. Ryan was dying. Natalie crouched over him to do what she did best; heal him. Rose held her wand in a steady grip, her eyes scanning the gloom for the other Death Eaters. It was hard to tell a genuine threat from a prisoner panicking in his or her cell.

A loud crash came from upstairs, followed by a scream. A body came tumbling down the staircase. Its head was missing, but Rose could tell it was Terry from the brown boots he wore. Mark and T.J's were black.

Rose turned back to Natalie and hissed "Get out of here."

Natalie nodded, dropped the potion she had been using to heal Ryan back into her pocket, grabbed a fistful of the man's robes in one hand and snatched up one of the feather port keys in the other. Both disappeared.

Rose knew, deep down, that she ought to do the same. But she couldn't. She stepped over what was left of Terry and proceeded up the stairs cautiously.

Almost instantly she was locked in combat with a Death Eater. She managed to duck his killing curse and sent one of her own right back at him. It missed, but struck the wall next to him, causing a small explosion of dust and small chunks of concrete. The Death Eater must have gotten something in his eye by the way he flapped his arms in front of his face frantically, and Rose took her chance. In a flash of green light, the masked man dropped to the ground, lifeless.

Rose continued on for two steps when suddenly the floor above her gave way. She sprang back as debris and bodies came crashing down.

She heard T.J. shout "Get outta here!" before a flash of green light struck him. Rose fired off two killing curses before diving down the staircase without waiting to see if they hit anything.

She tripped over Terry's body and crashed to the ground. As she scrambled to her feet, something heavy landed on her. It snarled, and she felt hot breath on the back of her neck. By its strength alone she knew that it was a werewolf.

But the full moon wasn't out tonight…

"Looks like we've got us a pretty one." a snarling voice spoke above her.

With a jolt of fear, Rose realised that her wand had rolled away from her and it was impossible to locate in the darkness.

She felt deep gouges being torn into her shoulder and arm. She felt a hand tear away the bag of port keys… she was caught, and she had no defence… no defence, except…

_-Flashback-_

_A fifteen year-old Rose Weasley sat next to her grandfather Dan Granger as he handed her a small wooden box. She opened it and gazed at what was inside._

"_What's this granddad?" she asked._

"_A souvenir." he replied "From my days in the army. That one got me out of a tight spot or two, I can tell you."_

"_And you want me to have it?"_

_He nodded._

_-End flashback-_

Rose had brought that thing with her on this mission, as a last-resort backup item. Well she certainly seemed to be in a situation that required last-resort type things.

With her free (well free-_er) _hand she grabbed for the knife. To her relief her fingers closed around the handle and she drew it. She made one wild swiping motion above her and must have struck something for the Werewolf howled and reared back, away from her. She took her chance and twisted herself into the oddest angle physically possible in order to drive the blade right into the heart of the beast.

Then she scrambled to her feet and ran.

Spells followed her out of the building and into the forest, but whoever was firing them did not follow her any further than that.

When she felt like she could not run anymore, Rose collapsed to the ground, breathing hard.

As she lay there, frightened, exhausted and bleeding, sound began to trickle back into her world. The sound of running water.

She forced herself to get up in head in the direction that the sound seemed to be coming from.

Ten minutes later she found it; a small stream so shallow that it would not even come half way up to her knees. She shrugged her robes off, and the top that she wore underneath followed it. She scooped some water up in her hands and splashed it onto her wounds as best she could. Then she splashed some onto her face, got up, dressed herself again and then looked around.

There was no other way to put it: she was lost.

She was in the middle of a forest, in the middle of the night, in a country that was perhaps the most dangerous in the world for her to be in. She was injured. She had no wand and no port key.

And she was on her own.

Damn.

Things really had gone wrong, hadn't they?

Perhaps, had she known, she might have been able to take comfort in the fact that one of the killing curses she had shot at random before she fled had actually struck Mulciber right between the eyes, so at least that part of the mission had been successful.

But she didn't know that. And there was no one left alive who could tell her so.

* * *

A/N: So how was that? Did you like it? I will be going into more detail about things soon, so if something doesn't make sense, it'll probably be explained. Let me know though and I'll go my best to make sure to include it. However, I will note here and now that the whole ICW not getting involved in the war thing is basically how I see the organisation in the canon, after all there was no mention of any real international help in either of the wars with Voldemort, despite Dumbledore being the head of the ICW (alright Fleur helped out, and so did Madam Maxime, a bit, but beyond that…) I really think that they, like the Ministry of Magic of Britain ignored the situation for as long as they could, even to the point of it being beyond justifying.


	3. An Awkward Meeting

_So far the response to this story has been amazing. Thanks people! And no, there are still no plans to make Harry and Rose a romantic couple._

* * *

A Darkened World

An Awkward Meeting

_-Dream Sequence-_

_Nine year old Rose Weasley pushed open the backdoor to her house and went inside. She had been playing with her cousins Roxanne and Dominique, but now it was lunchtime and she had hurried home to find out if her mother would cook her some spaghetti and meatballs. She dashed down the hallway and came into the kitchen of her family's house. There she was greeted with a surprise, and not the good kind!_

_Her mother was sitting in a chair at the table with her face buried in her hands. And she was crying._

_Like most children the world over, Rose hated seeing her parents upset. However whereas her little brother Hugo might have left their mother alone, Rose hurried over to her, full of concern._

"_Mummy, why are you crying?"_

_Her mother looked up suddenly, clearly surprised "Oh, Rosie. I didn't hear you come in."_

_Rose noticed that her mother's eyes were a little red, and her cheeks were tear-stained. She had been crying for a while._

"_What's wrong Mummy?" Rose asked._

"_Oh, nothing Rose. It's nothing." as she said this, she was gathering up some things that were scattered over the table top._

_One of the items fall from the table, and Rose was quick to pick it up and examine it._

_It was a photograph, showing three people. Despite her young age at the time it was taken, it was blindingly clear that one of the three was her mother, with her chocolate-coloured eyes and bushy brown hair. One of the others was obviously her father, with his red hair, large nose, freckles and gangly frame. However she had no idea who the third person was; bespectacled with a kind smile on his face, a mop of unruly black hair and the most brilliant green eyes._

"_Who's that mummy?" Rose asked, pointing to the third person in the photograph._

_Her mother paused, appearing to be quite torn as her eyes looked first at the photograph, then to her daughter and back again._

_Finally she gave a sigh and sat back in her chair before saying "Well, I suppose that it's only right that you should know…"_

_She looked back at Rose, who was watching her expectantly._

"_Alight. The boy in that picture is Harry Potter."_

_Rose's eyes widened with surprise at that "Harry Potter?" She knew that name somewhere. She'd heard her Grandma Molly and Aunt Ginny discussing the name several times. And hadn't she overheard her parents arguing over someone named Harry?_

"_Who is he?" Rose asked._

"_Harry is… was" her mother corrected herself "my best friend. He was one of the nicest people that you could ever hope to meet. He was kind, brave and loyal. And he always went out of his way to help people who needed it, and to do what is right, rather than what is easy."_

"_And he's your best friend?" asked Rose._

_Following a nod from her mother, Rose continued "How come I've never met him? Did he die in the war?"_

"_I don't know. I don't know what happened to him."_

"_How come?"_

"_Your dad and Harry had a big fight one day. They fell out and your father left. I went with him." she admitted before adding bitterly "Biggest mistake of my life."_

"_Did you try and find him?" asked Rose._

"_I did. He always wanted to go to the little village where his parents were buried. For three whole months I would spend eight hours each day there, waiting for him to turn up, and then it would be someone else's turn to keep watch for him. He never came there, and there was nothing else we could do to try and find him. Then we were forced to flee the country."_

"_So you never saw him again?"_

"_No." and with that her mother started crying again._

_Rose hopped up onto the seat next to her mother and wrapped her arms around her, hoping to provide comfort. All the while, her nine-year old mind was reeling at the idea that her mother and her best friend had parted on such horrible terms, and never saw each other again. And her mother thought that leaving Harry to be with her father was a massive mistake. How could best friends fall apart like that?_

_-End Dream Sequence-_

* * *

Rose stirred slightly as consciousness returned to her. Slowly she opened her eyes to take in her situation. She was lying on her back, and a good ten feet above her was a sheet of beige coloured canvass that seemed to be acting as a roof. Wondering where she was, she sat up, and a damp cloth fell off her forehead. She paid it little mind.

She was in a bed, wrapped in blankets, in what seemed to be a large tent, which confused her. The last thing she could remember was curing up between the thick roots of a large oak tree. She felt a twinge of pain in her shoulder where the werewolf had hurt her, and she brought a hand up to rub it. She was surprised to find that there was a bandage attached there.

She threw back the blankets to find that she was still fully clothed. She got out of the bed and stood up to look around. The tent was quite large, so large that she quickly came to the conclusion that it must be a magical one.

There didn't appear to be anyone else within the tent.

To one side of the tent, there was a small wooden table cluttered with what at first appeared to be a pile of junk. However when she moved closer to get a better look, she discovered that the clutter consisted of many things, including various books, glass phials (some of which were broken), quills, pieces of parchment and a wide variety of clothes.

Rose took one of the books and read the title on the spine. It read _"The Tales of Beadle the Bard."_

She knew the title of the book well. It was a collection of short stories like "_The Wizard and the Hopping Pot_," "_The Fountain of Fair Fortune_" and "_Babbity Rabbity and her Cackling Stump_." All of these were aimed at wizarding children. Such a book seemed rather insignificant, and so she set it aside in favour of another.

It was a book with a cover made from carved mahogany, an unusual thing, even for a wizard's book.

She opened it with caution. She found herself looking at a man and a woman, perhaps the same age as herself, or perhaps a year or two younger. The woman had long flowing red hair and brilliant green eyes, but it was the man that caught her attention with his mop of jet black hair and the pair of glasses sitting so casually on the bridge of his nose… he almost looked like… no. It couldn't be.

She flipped through a few more pages, seeing the couple with friends, or just together, them and their friends on their wedding day, the couple with a baby, and then…

Rose dropped the book back onto the table in surprise. She brought a trembling hand to her mouth and tried to calm herself before looking at the photograph again.

It was exactly the same as the one she had found her mother crying over eleven years ago. There on the left was her mother, no older than twelve, buck-toothed and bushy haired. And on the right was her father, gangly, freckled and long nosed. And there in the middle was…

Behind her the entrance to the tent opened. Rose spun around in surprise, and saw a man entering the tent. It was a man she had never met, but knew all too well. Despite his shoulder length hair that was now dirty, matted and flecked with grey, and despite the messy tangle of a beard that hid most of his neck from view, there was no mistaking those green eyes behind those glasses. And there was no mistaking that scar which marred his forehead.

He smiled at her, but Rose could see that it was a forced one "Ah, you're awake at last, then."

"Sorry?" Rose asked, her voice taking on an unexpected squeaky quality.

"I found you under a tree." he replied "You were really out of it, so I brought you back here. Patched you up a bit. You've been asleep for three days."

"I have?"

"Yeah. I was starting to wonder if you'd ever wake up. Oh, I'm Harry by the way."

"I know." replied Rose, before wincing at her slip up.

He gave her a curious look "How do you know?" suddenly he had a wand in his hand, which he aimed at her "Are you one of them?"

"One of what?"

"A Death Eater. I checked your arm but-"

"No. I'm no Death Eater. I know you because-" she tried to think of a believable cover story, but decided to bite the bullet "I know you because I grew up hearing stories about you. I'm Rose Weasley. My father is Ron Weasley and my mother is Hermione Granger."

An expression of pain filled Harry's face at the mention of her parents' names. Silence reigned for a few long moments, causing Rose to wish that she hadn't mentioned her mum and dad by name. Finally Harry asked "So they're alive then?"

Rose replied with a nod before saying "They're living in Australia."

"So the cowards fled."

"They didn't have much choice-"

"Traitors usually don't."

Rose knew that her parents had done a terrible thing in abandoning Harry, but she wasn't about to let him get away with calling them traitors. It wasn't as if they'd joined Voldemort or anything.

"It was either that or die. You know You-Know-Who took Hogwarts, don't you?"

"I am well aware that he took Hogwarts." replied Harry coldly "I am well aware that he killed everyone who refused to bow to him, student or adult. And I am well aware that from there he carried on throughout the British Isles and far out into the continent."

"Well then…" began Rose, but any argument seemed to die in her throat.

"What are you doing in this country, anyway?" asked Harry "Why aren't you with your parents, where it's safe?"

Glad of a change in topic, Rose latched onto it and told Harry about the taskforce that she was a part of. She told him of the mission that she had taken part in, and how it had all gone so very wrong.

"Wow." muttered Harry "And I thought I was prone to acting stupidly noble. Well, what are you still doing here? Surely you've got a portkey back home?"

Rose shook her head "The werewolf took the bag of portkeys that I had."

Harry frowned and asked "And you didn't have a backup portkey in case of an emergency?"

When Rose shook her head in the negative, Harry rolled his eyes and muttered to himself "Of course. Whoever heard of a wizard with a contingency plan?" Then to her he said "Well, I suppose you'd better make yourself comfortable here. I think I've got enough food for the both of us tonight, but we'll have to go hunting and gathering in the morning."

This caught Rose by surprise "You want me to stay?" she asked.

Harry shrugged "Just a recommendation. You go out there" he gestured outside "and you'll be captured and tortured to death for information within a week."

And with that he turned his back on her and made his way over to an area of the tent that clearly had been designated as a kitchen area.

Rose stood there, watching him with a surprised look on her face. A few moments before she had been sure he was about to throw her out for mentioning her parents, and now he was offering her a place to stay and a meal? It didn't make sense…

"_Oh yes it does._" said a voice in the back of her mind. And she knew that the voice was correct. This was what her mother liked to call "_Harry's saving people thing_." It seemed that despite the years of hurt that it had caused him, Harry wasn't about to hold her parents' abandonment of him against their daughter, even though he really should.

Thank Merlin for small mercies!

She was also quick to discover that she couldn't exactly hurt him, even if she was an enemy of his. She had lost her wand in the fight, and now from a quick search of her pockets it seemed that she had misplaced her knife.

She wondered if Harry had taken it from her, just in case.

Deciding to ask about that later, Rose made her way over to the kitchen. After all, it would be very rude of her to eat Harry's food without first helping to prepare it.

There was already some meat roasting slowly as it turned on a spit above a flame.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Pigeon." replied Harry.

Rose wrinkled her nose in disgust at the idea of eating pigeon.

Seeing her expression Harry said "Don't worry. It's not that bad. It tastes a bit like chicken, but a bit stronger, and sometimes a tad nutty or berry-like"

Rose decided to just reserve judgement until after she tried a bit.

* * *

_Later…_

Harry stepped outside the tent to get some fresh air, and to think things over. He had to admit that now that he thought about it, Rose did have more than a passing resemblance to Hermione, and he wondered why he hadn't realised it earlier. Probably because it was so unlikely that the one person to find him after so long would just happen to be Hermione's daughter. Still, it was a shock to learn just who her parents were, and that naturally made him doubt her trustworthiness. And yet he was letting her stay. He couldn't really come up with a reason why, but if he were to be truly honest with himself (which he wasn't) he would have admitted that no small part of his decision to let her stay was loneliness.

He had little reference for time anymore, but from Rose's age (for she was at the very least eighteen) Harry could surmise that he had been alone for around twenty years.

Merlin, was that how long it had been? That was a long time to have been alone, hiding away from the world, nursing his pain.

Yes, at least on a subconscious level Harry's willingness to let Rose stay was an attempt to ease his loneliness. It would certainly make a difference to have someone else around. Someone to talk to.

Not that he completely trusted her yet. Her knife was stowed in a small drawer by his bed that he kept locked, and he wouldn't be giving it back to her just yet.

Of course, not everything she brought with her was welcome. She had mentioned the Battle of Hogwarts as if it was just some fact that she learned out of one of her textbooks at school. Harry, on the other hand, did his level best to quash the memories of that battle. He wasn't there, but Voldemort made sure that he saw everything.

Trying to push those memories from his mind, Harry tilted his head back and looked skyward.

A cloud drifted aside to reveal a crescent moon. The moon immediately reminded him of someone, and a memory of terrible screaming surfaced in Harry's mind. Violently pushing that memory away, Harry turned and went back inside. He definitely did not want to recall that memory.

Inside the tent, he looked over towards Rose, who, after dinner, had decided to get some sleep (her body was still coming around from her exhaustion.) She had unknowingly gotten into the bed that her mother used to occupy.

In the end she had decided that the pigeon made a passable meal. Too bad they had had nothing to go with it.

Wondering what the future would hold now that he had a companion, Harry made his way over to his own bed. Hopefully the presence of someone else would make the night time a bit more tolerable.

* * *

A/N: There you go. Harry's back, Rose has met him and they've told each other enough for them to call a truce. But please remember when reviewing that they are far from being the best of pals. That will need to grow. Harry's not turning her away because of his loneliness and the fact that, despite everything, he's not a complete bastard that would sent her out to be killed. I know that this chapter doesn't go into much detail about things, especially the past, but I think Harry and Rose need to grow a bit more comfortable around each other before the swapping of stories can take place. Don't worry though, there is more backstory coming in the next chapter, and we get a hint of just how much progress Harry has made. In fact the next few chapters are going to be about Harry and Rose getting to know one another, learning about past events and working towards their next move. Oh, and there is a bit more reasoning behind Ron and Hermione abandoning Britain for Australia, beyond the standard "Voldemort was taking over" thing. I did originally plan to put it in here, but it seemed a bit odd to bring that bit of information up at this point.

Also, good news! For a change I have actually managed to properly plan this story, at least as far as chapter 8. I have no idea how long it will be, but I think that fifteen chapters is a fair estimate.


	4. The Torture of Sleep

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who has taken the time to read and review and/or favourite this little story. It's getting quite the following. Sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out, my muse was elsewhere, determinedly working on plot ideas for stories that may never see the light of day. I have finally managed to wrangle it back in and focus it on this story. So enjoy!**

* * *

A Darkened World

The Torture of Sleep

In the darkness of the night a frantic scream tore through the night air, shocking Rose out of her sleep. Wide eyed and disoriented she looked around, trying to remember where she was. Then she remembered about the tent she had found herself in the day before. She turned her eyes across the room and in the gloom she could just about make out Harry's bed. It was he who was screaming, and he was violently thrashing about on his bed as he did so, the blankets tangled around him.

"No! Leave her alone! Luna, no! No. Leave them alone! No, don't!"

Rose threw back the blankets that covered her and turned up the gas-powered lamp that sat next to her bed, increasing the amount of light inside the tent, before she darted over towards Harry's bed. She grabbed a flailing arm in a firm grip with her left hand, and placed the palm of her right hand on the side of Harry's face.

"Harry!" she shouted, desperately trying to wake him "Harry, wake up."

His emerald green eyes opened and he stared at her. He was pale and covered in sweat; his soaked hair was stuck to his forehead, covering his scar, and his damp t-shirt was clinging to his chest. His breaths came in deep, heaving gasps, and his eyes were full of a mixture of fear, anger and confusion.

He stared at her, almost as if he was trying to comprehend who she was.

"Hermione?" he asked in a shaky voice.

Rose sighed and shook her head "No Harry. I'm Rose, remember."

He continued to stare at her, his expression one of confusion.

"Rose?" he asked.

"Yeah." she replied, reaching for his glasses that sat on his bedside table.

"Here." she held them out to him and, with a shaking hand he took them and placed them on his face. Once they were in place, he looked at her again, and she saw the comprehension dawn in his eyes.

"You're Rose." he said finally "Not Hermione."

Rose nodded, and silence fell between them again.

_'Awkward.'_ she throught.

"Sorry." he eventually muttered.

"Don't be." said Rose "I imagine that without your glasses on I would look quite a lot more like my mother than I usually do, and I do resemble her quite a bit."

"Not for that." said Harry "Sorry for waking you."

Rose shook her head "There's no reason to be sorry for that, Harry. I know you can't really control it."

"Your mother tell you that?" he asked.

"My mother told me lots of things." she replied with a smile.

Again silence fell for a few long moments.

Finally Rose said "Harry, if you want to talk about what you see in your nightmares, then I'm more than prepared to listen."

He looked directly at her, studying her. For a moment Rose thought he was going to reject her offer, but finally he began to speak, though there was pain in his voice as he did so.

"It was at Hogwarts, just a short while after the Death Eaters won their battle there. They were all celebrating the slaughter, with students and staff lying dead all around them. There were Werewolves fighting over the corpses and feeing on them. It wasn't even the full moon.

"There were survivors, and they were being tortured by the Death Eaters for their amusement. Then Draco Malfoy came in with Crabbe and Goyle. They had been to Malfoy Manor to retrieve some prisoners. Voldemort"

At this, Rose looked suddenly very anxious and drew her wand, but Harry shook his head "Don't worry. The taboo's not in effect anymore, Voldemort realised what a crap idea it was. Anyway, as I was saying Voldemort spoke with one of the prisoners. It was Mr Ollivander, the wand maker. Voldemort said that he now had an all-powerful wand and so he had no further need for the man. He waved the wand and sent out a spell that cut him clean in half. There was blood going everywhere, and the prisoners were screaming. The Death Eaters just laughed. Then Voldemort turned on another prisoner. This one was a Goblin, I think he was called Griphook, and Voldemort forced him to bow to him and then kiss the hem of his robes, torturing him until he obeyed. Then he killed him too. The last two prisoners were Dean Thomas and Luna Lovegood.

"Draco Malfoy took great joy in pointing out that they were good friends of mine. That news made Voldemort very happy indeed; especially when he learned that Luna was one of those who were with me when he was exposed to the Ministry in my fifth year. He had Draco point out others who were friends with me, and Draco gleefully pointed to those who were in the D.A."

At this Harry looked to Rose and asked "You know what the D.A. was, right?"

Rose nodded "I've met a few, and several are within my family; mum, dad, Ginny, Lee, George, Angelina..." she trailed off, hoping that her mentioning of her parents would not put Harry off of talking.

Fortunately it didn't seem to, for he continued "Amongst the prisoners were Susan Bones, Parvati Patil, Cho Chang Terry Boot and Katie Bell, the only members of the group not to be killed in battle or to flee from it. Voldemort had very special plans for them, ones his followers enjoyed immensely. They were especially delighted with Susan being there, what with her being the last of the Bones family, one that had always taken a stand against Voldemort and his evil minions."

"What did they do?" asked Rose, not entirely sure she wanted to know the answer.

"Torture." replied Harry "Rape for the girls. Then a slow, painful, agonizing death. You know, the usual. They started with Luna first, just so the others could see what they were in for. They passed her around like it was a game of pass the parcel, until she was dumped at Voldemort's feet. And he tortured her."

"And that's where I woke you up, right?" asked Rose.

Harry nodded and replied "Yes, but I know all too well what happens next. I've spent the last twenty years reliving it at night with no one to wake me. Voldemort took great delight in knowing that I was watching that night. He made sure I was watching, through his eyes. Seeing her tortured from his perspective… as if it were my own."

Silence fell once again as the enormity of Harry's torment began to really sink in for Rose. Finally she asked "And the others?"

"Went the same way, I suppose." said Harry "Or at least they would have eventually."

"You didn't see it?"

"No. Voldemort was taking so much joy in torturing me as he tortured Luna that he forgot what he learned at the Ministry when he tried to possess me after Sirius died. When my emotions get the better of me, emotions for the ones I care about, I can hurt him. He killed Luna and I had my vengeance. It was like a brief moment of clarity, and I knew exactly what to do. Everything I was feeling, every tortured emotion, I gathered up and practically threw at the point in my mind that links me with Voldemort. And he, unable to understand those emotions, far less experience them, felt his body burn as if it was on fire. He collapsed and so did I. I have no idea how long I was out for, but he has yet to try those mind games again."

Rose sat there, trying to wrap her mind around all this. Voldemort had tried to torture Harry's mind, only for Harry to do the same right back.

Did that then explain one of the old mysteries of the war? She had to ask.

"Harry, following the Battle of Hogwarts, You-Know-Who took a very long time to make his move on mainland Europe. In fact everything went quiet when just days before the battle Death Eaters were performing small-scale attacks upon parts of France, Belgium and the Netherlands. Then everything just stopped for two whole months. Do you think that it's possible that you did enough damage to keep him out of action for that long?"

Harry shrugged "No idea."

"Well, either way the delay was enough for those who escaped the battle to flee the country, along with a good few others." Rose hoped that the idea that his actions might possibly have bought the refugees some time to escape might have given Harry some comfort, but now that she had said it she wasn't so sure that it had. His expression was unreadable.

Rose felt a weariness come over her, something she associated with the lateness of the hour. And it didn't seem like she would get much more out of him tonight, so she said "Listen Harry, let's try and get some more sleep, okay? We can talk more in the morning if you want."

Harry took a shaky breath and blew it out as a sigh "You can go back to bed if you want. I've had that nightmare enough times now to know that it will be useless for me to try and get any more sleep tonight."

Rose gave Harry a sad smile and stood up. She returned to her bed and crawled back in under the blankets, her back to Harry. Her mind was thinking on all that Harry had said to her. She couldn't quite believe that he had opened up to her like that. Perhaps her resemblance to her mother had something to do with it.

Or perhaps it was just twenty years' worth of pain finally being unleashed.

Finally after a few minutes her thoughts began to subside as her tiredness began to win over. However, just as she was about to drop off to sleep, she heard a strange hissing sound.

Rose sat up and looked around. Harry was sitting up in his bed, clutching something tightly in his hand. Whatever it was he was holding it was made of gold. And, worryingly, the hissing sound was coming from it. Even more worrying, however, was when Harry started to hiss back at it.

To Rose it sounded like the hissing of two large serpents. She remembered her mother telling her that Harry could do that, he could talk to snakes. What was that ability called again? Parseltongue, that was it.

But the thing in Harry's hand was talking back to him in parseltongue, and suddenly she realised the meaning of that. Harry Potter still had not destroyed the Locket of Salazar Slytherin. It still contained a piece of Lord Voldemort's soul within it, it was still a Horcrux.

And Harry had been living in the company of its negative, corruptive influence for over two decades. It had been poisoning his mind for over twenty years, for longer than Rose had been alive.

And that was not a good thing.

Not if the stories her mother had told her were true, anyway.

* * *

**A/N: Short, I know, but that's all that this chapter needed. Originally I had planned for there to be a dream sequence in which you see what happens to Luna and the others in more detail, but I just cannot bring myself to write that stuff, so the chapter now is about five hundred words shorter than planned, but in my view that's fine because if my shortcomings as a fan fiction writer include being unable to write an in depth description of good people being violently molested then I quite clearly am not a psychopath with a f****d up mind, and to be completely honest that is something that I can live with. Also please don't flame me for Harry having failed to destroy the locket thus far. Reasons why will be explained in the next chapter, I promise. It's even in the plan I wrote out, it has to be in the next chapter or else everything else falls down! Don't worry though, its not as if he has done nothing in the past twenty years. He has done some things, you'll just have to wait and see what they are (again some of this will be in the next chapter). Remember this is mostly from Rose's perspective so you don't find things out until she does.**


	5. The Horcrux Issue

**A/N: A bit of a mixed response to that last chapter, though everyone seemed happy enough that I did not go into detail with regards to Harry's nightmare.**

**Anyway, on with the show…**

* * *

Darkened World

The Horcrux Issue

Rose was sitting at the table, flicking through the pages of a book without really focusing on what the book was about. There was a problem, and it was weighing heavily on her mind.

The Horcrux.

She wanted to question Harry about it. She wanted to know why it was still here, why Harry still had it and why he hadn't destroyed it.

She wanted to know why he spoke to it.

She wanted to know how much progress, if any, he had made in the last twenty years with regards to finding and destroying the soul anchors that allowed Voldemort to defy death itself.

The problem was how to bring up the subject. Despite years of hearing stories about Harry from her mother, and even though he had managed to open up to her a little the night before, Rose did not know Harry. She did not know how he thought, how he acted, he did not know all his little quirks… and even if she knew Harry as well as her mother had known him, there was no telling how twenty years of solitude with that horrible locket might have changed him.

She could not really afford to make him retreat even further into himself than he already was, but at the same time she needed to know the situation so that plans could be made. Voldemort needed to fall, and for Voldemort to fall his Horcruxes needed to be destroyed. And for that to happen, Rose would have to know what Harry had done, where he was successful, where he had failed, what he knew, what he could guess at and where he was clueless.

Only then could they go forward.

The entrance to the tent opened and Harry came back inside from doing… well, Rose wasn't entirely sure what Harry had been doing, but she had assumed that he had gone for a pee against a tree or something.

He must have noticed the thoughtful look on her face, for he asked brightly "You alright Rose?"

"Yeah I'm fine." she replied automatically.

"You look like you've got something on your mind." he said.

Rose blew out a breath and thought _'Well, I might as well just bite the bullet and ask.'_

"I, uh…" she began weakly "I saw you talking to that locket last night."

Harry seemed to stiffen slightly "You did, did you?"

Rose gave a nod.

Harry stared at her for a few moments, and then he brought his hand up to his neck, where he hooked a finger through a thin golden chain. He pulled the locket out from under his shirt and held it up.

"Do you know what it is?" he asked.

Again Rose nodded, and said "It's an heirloom of the Gaunt family line that once belonged to Salazar Slytherin. You-Know-Who turned it into a Horcrux, an anchor containing one of seven pieces of his soul."

Harry gave her a puzzled look, to which Rose simply shrugged her shoulders and said by way of explanation "My mother told me."

At the mention of her mother, a pained expression once again found its way onto Harry's face, but he quickly hid it was a cheery smile that was so horribly false "Of course she did."

Rose smiled weakly. It was time to ask the most important question of all "Harry, have you made any progress at all with the finding and destroying of the Horcruxes?"

At her question, the golden locket began to hiss, causing her eyes to dart worriedly towards it. Harry glanced down at it with an annoyed look before taking the chain from around his neck and setting the locket down on the table.

"Don't touch it." he said warningly before turning away.

Rose watched him go before turning her eyes nervously back towards the locket. She noted the emerald serpent on the front of it. It sent shivers down her spine and she quickly tore her eyes off of it again, and looked back to Harry who had approached one of the armchairs. He tilted it up and reached underneath it. When he drew his arm back, Rose saw that he was holding a small wooden box. She set the armchair back down and brought the box over to the table. He pulled out the chair next to her and sat in it before placing the box on top of the table.

He drew his wand, tapped it on the box and the small lock on the front clicked open. Harry lifted the lid and revealed what was inside.

Rose found herself looking at a small golden cup with two finely wrought handles and a few tiny jewels added for decoration. But it was the animal depicted that drew her eye. It was a badger.

"Hufflepuff." she muttered, with a small amount of awe.

Harry gave a nod of acknowledgement "Yes. It was created by Helga Hufflepuff herself, and passed on down her family line until the Smith family came to own it. Hepzibah Smith was the last recorded owner of it, and she made the mistake of showing it to a young man who worked for Borgin and Burke's as a buyer of valuable items for the shop to resell. That young man was Tom Riddle, known today as Lord Voldemort. He stole the cup from Smith, and even used her murder to turn the item into a Horcrux."

Rose gazed at the cup in wonder. To think that such a small and beautiful trinket, one associated with people who were just, loyal and true, could have been corrupted to become so deadly and foul.

Without thinking about it, she raised her left hand and reached out for it, but Harry closed the list and drew the box away from her.

She blinked, and felt as though she had come out of a kind of trance.

She looked at Harry, who was looking right back at her with an expression of warning on his face.

"That is their power." he said.

"How did you get it?" she asked.

Harry did not answer right away. Instead he picked up the locket and opened the box again. With some difficulty it seemed, he managed to place the locket into the box and close the lid on it. With a tap of his wand he locked the box again and he carried it back over to the armchair and he slid it back underneath. As he stood again he began to speak.

"Not long after your parents abandoned me" again the mention of her parents seemed to hurt him "I learned, almost at the expense of my life, that Voldemort had but a taboo upon his name. This enabled Death Eaters and Snatchers to detect anyone who said his name and apparate directly to their location, the idea being that whoever was so bold as to say his name out loud would be an opponent of theirs. The group that came for me were dumb, and I had a lot of anger to put behind the curses that I threw at them. As the last of them was dying from a Sectumsempra spell I questioned him and he told me all about Voldemort's ingenious little plot.

Harry smiled unpleasantly "Voldemort did not realise that he had handed me a valuable weapon against him. Of course, Voldemort always was big-headed, so it never occurred to him that someone might turn his brilliant plot against him. And let's face it, the average wizards and witches usually don't have a drop of logic about them, so it's no real surprise that none ever thought of the plan that I came up with following that incident.

"There is a major fault with apparition: you cannot see the location where you intend to arrive at. Usually this is not a problem, most wizards and witches do not leave wizarding society, and most places within it, like the Ministry, St. Mungo's Hospital, Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley contain their own set apparition points, you arrive there and nowhere else. But beyond those places, you really do have a problem, and very few witches and wizards like to think on those problems because those problems point out that their magical abilities are not are flawless as they like to think. And that was the key."

Rose shifted in her seat uncomfortably as a thousand ideas raced through her mind, there were so many possibilities.

"What did you do?" she asked finally.

Harry gave a shrug and said "The first time I found a pond, swam to the middle of it, shouted Voldemort's name and apparated back to the back. Nine Snatchers arrived and found themselves shoulder deep in water. Before they could disapparated, I used a "Glisseo Maxima" spell to freeze the water and thus them.

Rose's eyes widened "You froze them?"

"Yup."

"Did any of them survive?"

"Not a single one."

"What did you do with the bodies?"

Again Harry shrugged before answering "Had a fire. And that gave me the idea for my next trick."

"You burnt them alive?"

"Well they weren't alive for long. Splash around in a pool of diesel that someone adds a flame to and you don't last long." said Harry by way of defence "And anyway it's not as if these people were innocent bystanders, I did all this in remote locations to make sure there were no innocent bystanders. The people I killed were the ones rounding up the Muggleborns to hand over to the Ministry, or just simply killing them outright."

"Where did you get diesel from?"

"A fuel tanker." was all Harry offered in answer.

"And Voldemort didn't wise up to this?"

"Oh, he did in the end, though it took him a lot longer than I thought it would. Shortly after the Battle of Hogwarts, he realised that something was putting a massive dent in his numbers, and so he decided to send some of his inner circle, and I got Travers, Avery Senior, Jugson and Nott Senior all in one go, along with a few of the lower ranking guys. But then I was afforded a real treat. Although badly burned, Rabastan Lestrange managed to crawl out of the fire. I was running out of diesel at that point. This was my chance to get some answers out of a high ranking Death Eater so I stunned him, hosed him off with a massive Aqua Eructo, shoved a potion or two down his throat to keep him from dying on me, bound him to a chair and then revived him."

"Did he talk?" asked Rose

"He most certainly did." replied Harry

"Did you use Veritaserum?"

Harry shook his head in the negative and answered "Torture."

"You used the cruciatus curse on him?"

"No. I used muggle means. My Uncle Vernon made drills for a living, and you'd be surprised what one of them can do to a kneecap. I only got through one before Rabastan was telling me anything I wanted to know."

Rose nodded thoughtfully. Such violence was not in keeping with the Harry her mother told her about, but then this was a different Harry to the one her mother knew. And being tortured by muggle methods would certainly have been a massive knock to the pride of a Death Eater like Rabastan Lestrange.

Harry continued "Amidst a lot of screaming and inane babbling I was able to discover from him that Voldemort once had Bellatrix place something very precious to him inside the Lestrange family vault inside Gringotts Wizarding Bank. Following that I healed the worst of Rabastan's wounds, placed the imperius curse on him and we headed off to Gringotts, with me under my invisibility cloak."

"Voldemort hid something inside Gringotts Bank?" queried Rose.

"It's supposed to be one of the safest places in the country." commented Harry.

"It's also supposed to be a mad idea to try and rob the place." retorted Rose.

"Guess I'm mad then." said Harry with an uncaring shrug "Because I got in and got out with that cup."

Really that was all that Rose needed to know, but the story was just too intriguing.

"How did you do it?" she asked.

Harry smiled, a genuine and pleasant one this time. Rose supposed he was proud of his achievement and this was probably the first time he was able to tell someone about it.

"It was easy to get in. I just followed along after Rabastan, hidden under my cloak. The Goblins didn't suspect a thing and one happily led us to a cart that took us right down to the Lestrange vault, one of the deepest located.

"We hit a slight snag when we fell afoul of something called "The Thief's Downfall" which basically threw off all disguises and enchantments. It was easily solved though; I put stunned Rabastan and left him on the ground. Then I put the imperius on the Goblin and on we went. We got inside the vault, where there was a slight problem with a gemino and flagrate curse, but I got the cup and got the hell out of there. By this time of course the alarm had been raised and a group of low ranking Death Eaters turned up, dressed as Law Enforcement Officers. So I stole a dragon."

Rose blinked in surprise and asked dumbly "A dragon?"

"Yeah, a dragon. They keep them as guards of the high security vaults. I got onto its back; broke its chains and it roasted the Death Eaters for me. Then Rabastan came around from the stunning spell I hit him with, and the dragon ate him."

"It ate him?"

"Yeah, two bite and that was it; gone! Then the dragon began to climb upwards. It took ages but eventually we came out in the main lobby of the bank. The Goblins ran for it, and the Dragon got another three Death Eaters. I got two. Then it broke through the front doors and went out into Diagon Alley where it roasted a group of Snatchers who got it into their heads that they could take it on. Then it gave roar, beat its huge wings and we were off. I jumped from his back as we were passing over a lake and swam ashore."

"Did Voldemort know that it was you?" asked Rose.

"Unfortunately yes." said Harry "He wasn't happy and he killed a few of the Goblins, and he tortured Rabastan's brother Rodolphus into insanity before killing him for his brother's mess up. Voldemort knew then that I was hunting Horcruxes, and he inadvertently revealed to me information with regards to the last two. One is his pet snake, Nagini. The other, well, all I know about it is that it is something that once belonged to Rowena Ravenclaw and that he hid it somewhere in Hogwarts."

A dark, sombre expression passed over Harry's face now "The snake never leaves his side, and he has Hogwarts, which is virtually impregnable now."

"Couldn't you use your cloak to get in?" asked Rose.

Harry shook his head "It's not as simple as that Rose. Hogwarts is now Voldemort's headquarters. I went into the surrounding mountains and monitored the situation there for a week. It was crawling with Death Eaters then and there was no way for me to get in. I've been back about a hundred times since but to chance of entering has presented itself, the place is always bustling with activity, day and night, and all the entrances and exits are either sealed off or guarded. It's like a military training ground, every kid in Europe is brought there to be trained up to join the ranks of the Death Eaters. The place is filled to bursting point with them, and there are fully-fledged Death Eaters there, either teaching, if it can be called that, or on guard. And there are Trolls and Giants patrolling the grounds on guard duty as well. And there are Dementors everywhere; the things had bred like mad. Unless something happens to cause most of that force to move out, then there is no way that we can get in."

"What about destroying the Horcruxes?" asked Rose "Have you found out anything on that front?"

"Just Basilisk venom." said Harry "And the only ways I know of getting that are either through use of Gryffindor's Sword, which I don't have but am now fairly certain that it must be at Hogwarts somewhere, or getting down into the chamber of secrets at Hogwarts and see if the corpse of the one I killed there still has any venom about it, and we can't exactly go there. I've tried the killing curse, but it didn't work. And I don't have the incantation for fiendfyre, nor the ability to control it if I could cast it. Beyond that… I don't know."

He hung his head sadly.

Rose watched him for a moment before she turned and grabbed up the book she had been flipping through earlier.

Harry looked up at her in surprise "What are you doing?"

"Well there must be something in one of these books." said Rose "There must be something useful mentioned somewhere."

Harry shook his head and said "I've been looking for twenty years, Rose, and I've yet to find anything."

"Maybe you didn't look right." replied Rose, not looking up from the book.

Harry gave a sigh and shook his head.

As he stood and walked away, Rose was certain that she heard him mutter "Just like her mother."

* * *

**A/N: There you go, as promised, reasons and explanations. Harry did not just give up on his mission, he has really tried but the odds really are stacked against him. As for the killing curse not working on the Horcrux, just remember what you know about the killing curse (you've got to mean it). And yes, Harry has done more besides this. You just have to wait for him to reveal it to Rose. For those of you waiting for action sequences, they are coming in a few chapters' time, I promise. I realise that a lot of this is exposition, but that's just the way the first part of this story has to be, I'm afraid. On a side note, this is actually the longest chapter of this story so far. Yay.**


	6. Darkness' Influence

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, work has been a bit hectic lately. Most weekdays I'm working three or four hours' overtime, as well as most Saturday mornings. I fully welcome the opportunity to earn a bit more money, as chances to do so have been rare at work in the past five years. However, as you can probably imagine, with this extra work other things had to be pushed aside. This included writing new updates. I did manage to plan a bit more of this and other stories however, and the extra work seems to be coming to an end, so updating should be a little more frequent from now on.**

* * *

Darkened World

Darkness' Hold

The water from the stream was cold, causing Rose to shiver after she gathered some up in her hands and splashed it onto her face. This helped wake her up a bit.

Undeterred by Harry's twenty plus years of finding nothing useful in his collection of reference books, Rose had been pouring over them all, page after page, paragraph after paragraph in a determined attempt to find something, anything that might help Harry to complete the task that he set out to do over two decades ago.

It had now been three weeks. Three long weeks of doing nothing but reading and researching, trying to find some small clue or a tiny detail that might just help them out.

Whenever Harry saw her reading like this, he said nothing. Instead he would just shake his head apathetically and leave her to it. In twenty years he had found nothing, and much to Rose's chagrin it was slowly looking more and more like he was right; there was nothing in the books that was of use to them in their current situation.

Not that Rose hadn't found anything that she had thought _might _be useful. She had found several spells that she was unfamiliar with, but Harry was already well practiced in the use of them. Not that they were of any use to her as she didn't have a wand anymore.

She had read and was able to confirm what Harry had already told her; the best ways of destroying Horcruxes were the killing curse, basilisk venom and fiend fire, the incantation of which was nowhere to be found; there was only a dire warning about the use of the spell by unpractised individuals.

She could see why Harry avoided using that spell.

The most interesting things that she had discovered had resulted in an interesting talk with Harry. In one of the books, she found mention of the "_Founders' Artefacts_" and their powers. The Sword of Gryffindor could increase the wielder's confidence. The Diadem of Ravenclaw could increase the wearer's wisdom. The Locket of Slytherin could increase the wearer's cunning. The Cup of Hufflepuff could negate the effects of any poison placed within it, and increase the power of any healing potion that was drank from it. And the Sorting Hat, if it were inclined to do so, could clear the mind of the wearer, allowing them to think without clouded judgement.

According to the book, should one person ever possess all five artefacts themselves all at once, the possessor would gain, not only the powers mentioned as belonging to each individually, but also something much, much more. What that something was, was not made clear by the book. However the logical answer would be that all five items were meant to be in the possession of the current headmaster of Hogwarts School, so as to enable that person to run the school appropriately.

Unfortunately, only the Sorting Hat and the Sword had remained at Hogwarts throughout the centuries, and they were seldom used for their true purpose.

When Salazar Slytherin left Hogwarts following his feud with Godric Gryffindor, he had taken the locket with him, leaving it as an heirloom to his descendants. Helena Ravenclaw, in a fit of anger, had stolen and hidden her mother Rowena's diadem, resulting in it being lost for centuries. And the cup of Helga Hufflepuff… well, it was not clear what had happened there, but it was possible that a descendant of hers (though one probably not holding the same moral values as her) had seen fit to steal what their saw as their rightful family heirloom.

And all three of the artefacts that had been taken from Hogwarts Castle had long since been tracked down by Lord Voldemort and turned into Horcruxes.

When Rose had pointed this information out to Harry, he had dismissed it. He, quite rightly, pointed out that they had no way to access the Diadem, the Sword or the Hat, nor did they have any way of knowing if the three items were still within Hogwarts. For all they knew the Diadem had been relocated elsewhere, and Voldemort could have destroyed both the Sword and the Hat because of what they represented. He then pointed out that the two founders' artefacts that they did have in their possession were now corrupt. The locket now sewed doubt and misery rather than cunning, whereas no one in their right mind should drink anything coming from the cup.

However, Rose had still pressed the idea further, but had been cut off by Harry. Quite forcefully, as a matter of fact.

"Just ignore the idea." he had said "Put it out of your head. If you don't you'll become obsessed with it, like I was with the Deathly Hallows."

Rose had read several mentions of the Deathly Hallows, but nothing too specific (she hadn't bothered reading "The Tales of Beadle the Bard" as it was just a children's book). She pressed Harry on the subject, and he relented, going on to reveal that such things really did exist, and that he had come to the conclusion that the Invisibility Cloak he owned was most likely one of the Hallows.

Rose had been overjoyed to hear this, but Harry again told her to forget about it. He revealed that locating the Hallows had been a three-year obsession for him, before realising that the wand that Voldemort had stolen from Dumbledore's tomb had, in fact, been the Elder Wand.

"So you've got one, he's got one, and the third is missing?" Rose had asked.

Harry had nodded in reply before turning away.

It was at that point that the true reality of the situation had hit Rose. She had acknowledged that this Harry was a little different to the one her mother used to tell her about. For the first time she saw clearly that this Harry was one that had had the bravery, nobleness and loyalty drained from him by a combination of hurt, betrayal, torment, abandonment and two decades worth of loneliness.

This was a Harry who had largely given up.

She wanted very much to change that, but it was now four days since that conversation, and she still had no ideas as to how to go about it.

He was obviously well aware of the current regime at Hogwarts, so going there to see the place he had once thought of as home now under Voldemort's control was not going to do it.

The only real thought that she had had on the subject had been to get Harry to Godric's Hollow, to see the graves of his parents. Her mother had said that Harry had always wanted to do that, and Rose didn't know if he had ever done so.

Perhaps being reminded of his parents' sacrifice would put a little bit of fight back into him.

Mind made up, Rose used her sleeve to dry her face before standing up and leaving the bank of the stream, heading for the tent.

Harry's nightmares were as prevalent as ever, but Rose had not seen him conversing with the Locket again. This gave her hope that her presence was at least somewhat helpful to Harry. She decided that he must trust her, for he had seen fit to give her knife back to her, apologising for keeping it from her, but saying it was necessary for him to be able to trust her first.

Outside the tent, a strange sound made her pause. It was a hissing sound.

'_Oh no!' _she thought, worriedly '_He wouldn't. Not again! Oh please don't let him have-'_

She pushed her way through the opening at the front of the tent, and froze at the sight that met her.

The armchair was on its back. The wooden box hidden beneath it was open. The cup lay on the floor, and the locket sat in Harry's hand, its chain around his neck.

Harry was conversing with it in Parseltongue.

Without any other thought than to get Harry away from the locket's influence, Rose lunged at him and knocked him to the floor with her landing on top of him. One of her hands clasped around his hand that held the locket as she began to yank desperately on the chain with her other hand, trying desperately to break it.

Harry, however, fought back. Rose quickly found herself flat on her back with Harry's hand clenched tightly upon her throat.

She looked into his eyes and was horrified to see a deep and intense madness there.

"You will not have it." Harry snarled in such a way that it was almost like he was speaking parseltongue again.

Rose still had fight in her, though, and determination. She managed to bring her knee up and drive it as hard as she could into Harry's side, knocking the wind out of him. Another blow caused him to loosen his grip on her throat and roll off of her, winded.

Gasping for breath, Rose seized her chance and lunged for Harry again, she drew her knife and held it to his throat. When he saw it he went very still. Quickly she wrenched the golden chain of the locket from around his neck. Almost immediately she felt its corrosive influence begin to penetrate her mind, but out of instinct she threw it as hard as she could.

The locket soared through the air and landed with a soft thwump onto the spare bed that had once been used by her father, Ron.

The two of them then remained like that for several long minutes, both staring at each other as they fought for breath, Rose still holding her knife to Harry's throat.

Finally she lowered her weapon, though she did not put it away.

"What were you thinking Harry?" she asked, her voice almost pleading with him "Why do you talk to it? You know it's dangerous. You must do."

Somewhat reluctantly, Harry got into a sitting position.

"I know." he said, clearly frustrated "But I've been fighting it for so long."

"Why do it in the fight place?" asked Rose.

"It's been all the company I've had for twenty years. I needed some comfort from the torment and the locket provided that, or at least it seemed to."

"Well, I'm here now." said Rose, a comforting tone in her voice now "So how about we forget the locket, and you talk with me instead?"

Harry said nothing for several long moments, making Rose think he wasn't going to take her up on her offer.

Then he began.

"Do you know why the Battle of Hogwarts started, Rose?"

Rose shook her head.

"It began because two Death Eaters that Voldemort had placed amongst the staff pushed the students too far. Amycus and Alecto Carrow were officially at Hogwarts to teach a bastardised version of Muggle Studies, and the Dark Arts. They were also there to "discipline" the students. Of course, in this case "discipline" meant torture. They did it to as many students as possible, and as frequently as possible, often times just for the hell of it. They forced the older students to punish the younger ones with whips or the Cruciatus curse. Of course, a good number of the Slytherin students did not need encouraging.

"Other students refused to follow the Carrows' orders. They were punished the worst. One day, Seamus Finnigan was caught giving a first-year Hufflepuff a potion that would help heal the gouges on her back. The Carrows decided to make an example of him right in the middle of the Great Hall at dinner.

"They both the torture curse on him, one after the other, and then together. Then the older Slytherins were given the chance to join in. Eventually Seamus managed to lash out, breaking Draco Malfoy's nose with his fist.

"Amycus Carrow killed him for that. Used a dark cutting spell that sliced him clean in two.

"Then all hell broke loose. Like cowards the staff of Hogwarts had remained seated and silent throughout the whole thing, fearing for their own lives when they outnumbered the Carrows by at least ten to one.

"But now the Carrows had committed murder, and were likely to do more. So the staff took action, finally. Amycus' back erupted in an explosion of gore, courtesy of a spell of Minerva McGonagall. Alecto was harder to bring down, but the rest of the staff joined in, and so did the older students. Within seconds Pansy Parkinson, Theodore Nott, Vincent Crabbe and at least another dozen Slytherins were dead. Snape, the headmaster, and another Death Eater had jumped, grabbed Malfoy by the arm and made his exit, followed by a flurry of spells as Alecto's head was separated from the rest of the body by Flitwick.

"I don't know whether it was Snape who raised the alarm, or if Alecto did so before dying, but within an hour Voldemort brought his full force to Hogwarts and delivered his crushing blow. Voldemort killed McGonagall, Flitwick, Sprout and Slughorn personally. Bellatrix Lestrange killed Nymphadora Tonks, Hestia Jones and Poppy Pomfrey before finishing off the last two Longbottoms; Neville and his Grandmother. Dolohov got Kingsley Shacklebolt, Elphias Doge and more than a few students. Snape came back and killed Remus Lupin. Draco was with him and got Michael Corner and Ernie Macmillan. It was a bloodbath. So many faces I knew were soon lying dead or dying in the wake of Voldemort making his hold over the British Wizarding World total.

"They were killed by people who should have been given the Dementor's Kiss, or people whom Dumbledore insisted we trust, right until his dying breath.

"The Ministry folded like a napkin, and Hogwarts fell in a bloodbath."

"From then on there was nothing stopping the Death Eaters' rule. They went out and obliterated the muggle portions of society. They were apparate in scattered groups right into bustling crowds on busy streets, let loose flames controlled by dark magic and then disapparated. They could do this almost in the blink of an eye, as they did not need to aim their spell, just fire it. Thousands of people were burnt alive this way. With the flames being enchanted, there was nothing that the firemen and their water could do to stop the spread.

"Entire towns and cities were burnt to the ground within the first few hours following Voldemort's recovery from what I did to him after his victory at Hogwarts.

"They even managed to disable the muggle military in this way. Get in, set fire to the place and get out before a soldier could even think to raise his gun."

Rose frowned and said "I thought that after you drove him from your mind that time that Voldemort never tried to torture you by showing you these things."

Harry shook his head "He never did it _purposefully_. And I hardly ever saw it happening while it was going on. I see it at night."

"The fire spell you mentioned" said Rose "was it fiend-fire?"

"No. I think it's related, but there were never any serpents or chimeras formed out of flame. It's just a wave-like blast of flames that consumes everything in its path."

"Would it work on the Horcruxes, like fiend fire does?"

Again Harry shook his head "I tried. When Liverpool was burning, I apparated ahead of the flames and set the locket down. Then I apparated out, gave the flames half an hour in which to pass, and then went back. The ground and everything around it was blackened from the flames, but the locket was just sitting there, all shiny and gold. If anything it looked as though the flames had cleaned it, probably burnt all the dirt and grime off of it. It was still in one piece, it hadn't melted, and the piece of Voldemort's soul still resided within it. I think fiend fire can destroy a Horcrux because the spell is literally the caster calling forth flames from hell itself. The spell the Death Eaters were using was enchanted, it was highly destructive, but it was not hell fire."

Silence filled the air after Harry finished talking. He seemed to have run out of things to say, and Rose could not think of any comforting words for him.

"Do you know the worst thing I've seen is?" Harry asked after a while, breaking the silence.

"What?"

"The murder of my own parents, as seen from Voldemort's point of view."

Rose felt sick at those words. If Harry was seeing his parents' murders from Voldemort's perspective, then surely that meant that it would appear…

Harry broke down, sobs wracking his body and tears leaking from his eyes.

Those visions of his parents' murders would make it seem like Harry was the one killing them.

Rose got up, moved over to Harry and wrapped him in a hug, not unlike the one her mother once gave him, shortly after Sirius' death.

Finally after a good few long minutes, Rose pulled back and said "Harry, would it make you feel better if we went to Godric's Hollow to see your parents' graves?"

Harry shrugged in reply.

"Have you ever been there before?" she asked.

"Once. A long time ago."

"Do you want to go again?"

It took a moment, but finally Harry gave a nod, before adding "We'd better go under the invisibility cloak, though."

"Go and get it then." said Rose, and Harry stood and went in search of it.

Rose knew that going to Godric's Hollow meant that they were risking being seen, but they could always apparate out quickly. With those visions of his parents' deaths in his mind, what Harry needed more than anything was to make his peace with them. That had to be achieved before any progress could be made in getting Harry back on track.

Harry returned with the cloak and they left the tent. Beyond the protective charms that surrounded the tent, Harry threw the cloak over the both of them, took Rose by the hand and disapparated.

* * *

Rose knew that this had been a bad idea the moment that they arrived in the historically important little village.

Or at least, what was left of it.

Godric's Hollow had changed a lot in the twenty years since Harry had last come here to see his parents' graves for the first time. Most of it had been destroyed.

Of course it had. This was where Voldemort had met his first downfall. Why would he leave it standing?

Houses and the village church had been reduced to rubble. Skeletons of the murdered victims of the Death Eaters littered the ground, lying where they fell.

Nothing of Harry's parents' old house now remained, and the memorial statue dedicated to the Potter family now lay in broken pieces.

There did not seem to be anyone about, but Rose spoke in a whisper anyway "Harry, this was a bad idea. We should leave."

But Harry shook his head "No. We're here now."

He continued on towards the graveyard, and Rose was left with no choice but to hurry along with him, or lose what little protection the invisibility cloak offered her.

The graveyard seemed to be mostly intact. Apparently the Death Eaters saw no point in destroying every tomb stone. Some, however, had been broken apart. Rose noticed the family name of "Abbott" on one of the broken pieces. Another bore the name "Bones", another "Prewitt" and another "McKinnon", all families that had stood against Voldemort and his followers.

The Potter graves were different. They weren't merely damaged, they were desecrated.

The words "Mudblood Whore" were painted in red on a large piece of wood that had been driven into the grave. The piece of wood looked like it might have once been a part of a front door. The word "Scum" was carved into one of the larger pieces of headstone that remained, and the ground bore deep, black gouge marks that made Rose think that someone must have struck the ground repeatedly with a fire-whip.

Harry sank to his knees at the foot of the grave, and it took Rose a moment to notice that he was no longer covered by the cloak. She reached out with a hand to pull him back under, but suddenly her hand was grabbed in a vice-like grip.

The cloak was ripped off of her and two wand-tips dug themselves painfully into her throat.

"Stand up and drop you wand, Harry Potter, and we might let the mudblood live a little longer." said a female voice from Rose's left side. The voice sounded sadistic, but also held tones of extreme arrogance.

Slowly Harry stood to his feet, his wand dropping from his hand as he did so.

Rose could see another dozen Death Eaters coming out of the shadows of the graveyard ahead of him.

Harry turned around and faced the owner of the voice.

"Bellatrix." he said by way of acknowledgement.

* * *

**A/N: Again, sorry for the long wait, I hope this was worth it. As far a back story goes, I think there's only one more large dose to come, and that will be in the next chapter, after that the plot speeds up a bit.**

**I hope I've done a reasonable job of explaining what happened to the muggles. I get quite frequent reviews extolling the virtures of guns, and the suppossed superiority of the bullet over a spell. These people seem to forget that the Death Eater's would not care who was killed and would destroy quickly before getting out again (as shown at the start of film 6). What can bullets do against rapidly spreading flames that cannot be put out except by magic? A series of quick, simultaneous attacks, especially on military bases, would quickly cripple the muggles, and can be easily done by people who can appear, cast their highly destructive spell and then disappear again within two seconds. Most pure-bloods are ignorant, but Voldemort is not dumb; I am fairly certain the he is well aware of what muggles can do.**

**Also, please don't hate Rose for this last idea. It has backfired, but she was right; Harry needed to get some fight back into him, and this was all she could think of.**


	7. The Ministry

**A/N: To the reviewer operating under the guise of "**_**Guest**_**" I propose an experiment for you to conduct: 1) Have your parents murdered when you are a year old. 2) Be raised in an environment of neglect and disdain. 3) Have 95% of all people that you know, and everyone that you don't turn on you and call you a lying piece of scum for an extended period of time on four separate occasions. 4) Witness someone being killed right before your eyes. 5) See the killer of you parents be reborn using your blood. 6) Be tortured both mentally and physically by the aforementioned killer on multiple occasions. 7) See the closest thing you have to a parent get killed in front of you. 8) See your mentor be killed by a man he insisted you trust. 9) Be told that you are the only one who can stop the killer of your parents, and yet have practically little-to-no knowledge on how you might possibly do so. 10) Be abandoned by the two people in your life whom you are closest to. 11) Witness from the killer's point of view the murders of your parents (repeat this viewing on countless occasions. 12) See many people you know, both friends and acquaintances, get slaughtered, all the while knowing that, had you had more information available to you, you could have prevented it. 13) Relive those deaths on multiple occasions. 14) Spend twenty years completely alone save for two shiny little trinkets that slowly corrupt you.**

**Once you have done all of the above, then you can decide whether or not the Harry in this story should be dismissed as an "Emo" as you have done.**

**Anyway, on with the story.**

* * *

Darkened World

The Ministry

The atrium of the Ministry of Magic of Great Britain was bustling with activity. Wizards and witches marched to and fro, going about their daily ministerial business. Some of them carried clipboards to make themselves look important. Others carried rolls of parchment to make it seem like they had something important to do.

Due to this, the Ministry on the whole was the same as it had ever been: filled with people with illusions of perceived importance who really were anything but.

Once Voldemort had taken hold of it, Hogwarts had become the real stronghold. The castle, not the Ministry, was Voldemort's base of operations. The Ministry, however, still had its uses.

It was from this central point that the prisons were run, with all prisoner information being stored here. It was here that the "Goblin Hunters" were located; a team dedicated to wiping out all traces of Goblins in the country (they hadn't had a lot to do lately). The Ministry now also served as a bank, after the destruction of Gringotts. Information on every Death Eater and their families was kept here. And the Aurors were kept here, not that they deserved that title. They were just average wizards and witches who were not cut out to fight on the frontline of the war.

In short, it was where Voldemort kept all the purebloods that were of little or no use to his big plans of world domination.

It kept them occupied.

It kept them out of the way.

And it was into this hustle and bustle that Bellatrix Lestrange arrived with nearly twenty other Death Eaters and two prisoners, both of whom had brown cloth sacks over their heads, hiding their faces.

Bellatrix sauntered through the atrium ahead of the group, the crowd parting before her as she went. She knew that her two new captives really should be taken to Hogwarts, but she had caught Harry Potter and his mudblood-whore, and she could not resist the opportunity to lord it over the rest. Undesirable Number 1 and Undesirable Number 2, both known to be missing and presumed to be dead, who had kept themselves hidden from the Death Eaters for over twenty years, had been found and brought in by none other than Bellatrix Lestrange herself.

And why shouldn't she lord it over them? It had, after all, been the Ministry wizards that had allowed Potter and his whore to slip through their grasp twenty years ago.

She felt shivers of joy at the thought of how her Lord Voldemort, her love, would reward her for this.

She made her way over to the gigantic lump of black stone that was the "Magic is Might" statue that dominated the centre of the atrium. She stood before this, and the others lined up with her, facing the crowd, which stared back at them with rapt attention.

Bellatrix gave a nod to two of the other Death Eaters, and the sacks were pulled, none too gently, off of the heads of the two prisoners.

The crowd gasped.

"Twenty years ago" Bellatrix began in a loud voice that dripped with sadistic glee "You pathetic quill pushers allowed Undesirable Number 1, Harry Potter and his mudblood whore to escape your grasp. Today I, Bellatrix Lestrange, the greatest and most loyal supporter of our Dark Lord has succeeded in capturing them both."

She let out an insane laugh.

The crowd seemed to take this as their cue, for her laughter was soon drowned out in a cacophony of spiteful shouting and jeering insults that were directed that the two captives.

Rose felt a little frightened at the sea of hate filled faces before her, but one glance at Harry showed that he did not seem to be all that bothered by it. On the contrary, his expression was one of indifference and boredom. Remembering the stories her mother had told her of Harry, Rose realised that this really shouldn't be all that surprising; Harry was probably used to this sort of thing by now.

Bellatrix allowed the crowd five long and gruelling (from Rose's point of view) minutes to taunt and jeer before turning to her fellow Death Eaters and announcing "We must take them to the castle."

"You are aware, are you not, Bellatrix," said a tall, black-haired wizard with a beard and an overhanging forehead "that the Dark Lord in currently unavailable."

Bellatrix wheeled around to face him "What was that, Pius?"

"I said he's not available." replied the man, now identified as the puppet Minister for Magic Pius Thicknesse "He left for Germany this morning to personally aid in the frontline of defence against those marauding rebels who defy us."

To Rose, Bellatrix suddenly looked rather like a child, whose much-loved red balloon had just popped. It seemed apparent that she was not aware of this. Apparently there was trouble on the horizon in Bellatrix's paradise.

Obviously put out at this news, Bellatrix rounded on her fellow Death Eaters "You two," she snapped, jabbing her finger at the two Death Eaters holding Harry and Rose "Get them down to the holding cells. Potter never was too clever around Dementors. The rest of you with me."

She span on her heel and marched off, looking furious. The others followed her as Harry and Rose were shoved towards the golden lifts at the back of the atrium.

* * *

Rose shivered as the Dementor glided by the cell door once again. They really were horrible monsters.

Seemingly in defiance of all that she thought knew of him, as well as all that Bellatrix appeared to know of him, Harry gave no outward sign that he noticed the presence of the Dementor. Instead he was sitting in the opposite corner of the cell, clearly lost in thought.

Rose wondered what he could possibly be thinking about, other than what was surely going to be their demise.

The Dementor passed by the cell again, and Rose shivered once more. Merlin, what wouldn't she give for a blanket.

"Are your parents happy, Rose?"

Harry's question was so out of the blue that, for a fleeting moment, Rose felt like she had been hit over the head by a bludger. Why would he be thinking about her parents at a time like this?

She looked towards Harry, who was looking back at her, through eyes that were filled with a deep emotional anguish.

It took her a few moments, but finally Rose answered "No," she said with a shake of her head "No, they aren't."

"Why?" asked Harry.

Rose looked towards the door. They were being guarded only by a Dementor. No one else would hear.

She moved towards Harry and sat down beside him. She was silent for a few moments longer, before she began to talk.

"They haven't been together since I was ten. Mum was always plagued by guilt over their abandonment of you, and Ronald Weasley hated that. Mum's been getting treatment for a mild form of depression for as long as I can remember, and he disapproved. The wizarding world never delved into the realms of psychiatric treatments, and that meant that Mum has to resort to muggle methods. Ron's just as bad as most of the wizards in this building, at least as far as their opinions of muggles go. If it can't be done by magic, then it can't be done at all. He was always upsetting her, always picking fights. Can't have been nice for him, knowing that if she had the chance to choose again, she'd have picked you in a heartbeat."

"I notice that you never refer to him as "Dad."" observed Harry.

Rose's face darkened "That's because he's not. Any bloke can father a child, but it takes someone special to be a Dad, and he most certainly was not worthy of the title."

"What happened to them?"

Rose gave a shrug "He was violent and was drunk most of the time. He hit Mum frequently. One day Uncle George and Aunt Angelina walked in when it was happening, right in front of me. I've never seen either Fred or George get that angry before. Ron being his brother didn't stop George breaking Ron's jaw for him as Angelina got Mum and I out of the room. Grandma Molly hated it, but the rest of the family agreed that Ron's actions could not unpunished. He went to prison, and has been there ever since.

"No one says it, but we all think that that's what killed Grandma Molly. She was so full of grief for those final eight months of her life."

"And your Mum?"

"She's gotten better, especially now that he's not around. She still sees a therapist, but not as often as she used to. Despite her problems, she got a job, something he never let her have. She said she couldn't see a way to be useful to you, but she would do something helpful in the war. So she became a healer. Because of her metal state she's not allowed to be on the front line, providing immediate medical treatment to casualties, but she remains in Australia, helping with physiotherapy and rehabilitation, two concepts she introduced to the magical society."

Harry said nothing for a couple of minutes, and then he confessed "I never really believed that a romantic relationship between Hermione and Ron could possibly work out. That's why I was so shocked when she left that night."

"Mum finally figured that out four months after that night." replied Rose.

"So why did she stay with him?" he asked.

"A combination of fear of being alone, and… well, something else."

"What?"

"She… Mum was pregnant with me, okay? She got pregnant with me shortly after abandoning you. That's why she stuck with him. At least it was at first. Then it was mostly fear of what he would do if she did try to leave."

Rose felt tears stinging at her eyes. This was such a painful topic, and one that she did her best to avoid discussing with anyone. Ever.

And then something quite unexpected happened.

Harry lifted an arm and wrapped it around her shoulders. Rose's breath hitched out of surprise, but she quickly got over that and leaned against Harry, resting her head on his shoulder.

It was surprisingly comforting.

It saddened Rose to think that, had her mother not taken leave of her senses on one cold, stormy night in early November, over twenty years ago, then Rose would have grown up knowing Harry as her Uncle. He would have probably her favourite Uncle as well.

'_No_, _that's not right._' she told herself, mentally. Had her mother not taken leave of her senses, Rose would not have grown up calling Harry her Uncle. She'd have grown up calling him "Dad."

And right now, with this once simple offering of comfort that he was giving her in what might be their final hour, Rose couldn't help but think that Harry James Potter was one hundred times more deserving of the title of "Dad" than her father, Ronald Bilius Weasley had ever been.

She glanced towards Harry's face, and saw that his eyes were closed. For a moment she thought he was thinking, but then realised that he was asleep.

The Dementor seemed to have decided to leave them alone for a bit and, with the cell no longer quite as cold as it had been earlier, Rose felt her own eyes growing heavy as well.

* * *

The door to their prison cell unlocked with a loud metallic clunk and then it creaked open slowly. Harry and Rose both awoke and looked up to see the imposing figures of two large Death Eaters framed in the doorway.

"Time for you two to answer some questions." grunted the larger/rounder of the two. His voice was almost like that of a Troll.

Harry and Rose were pulled to their feet, their hands were bound tightly, and they were led away from their cell.

They were led up through the Ministry, and both of them noticed that there were still a lot of people going about their business (though mostly wandering aimlessly), so they could not have been asleep all that long (unless this was the next day of course, but both doubted it).

The golden lift came to a stop and the doors rattled open as a voice spoke "Level One: Minister of Magic and Support Staff."

Rose heard a low growling sound, and realised that it was coming from Harry. One look at him told her that he knew exactly who they were about to be questioned by.

The two Death Eaters paid Harry's audible displeasure no mind and marched their two prisoners out into the corridor.

The first passed a couple of doors that looked unimportant, and then one that had a shiny gold plaque that read;

_Pius Thicknesse_

_Minister for Magic_

They went straight by that door. That puzzled Rose; surely they were to be questioned by the puppet Minister.

They came to the next door. Its plaque read

_Dolores Umbridge_

_Senior Undersecretary to the Minister_

_Head of the Muggle-born Registration Commission._

That name rang a bell, but as they were marched towards that door, Rose could not place it. One thing was for sure, what with this being the Ministry; whoever was on the other side of that door would be no friend of theirs.

One of the Death Eaters pummelled his fit against the door in an unceremonious knock.

From within a high, simpering, girlish voice called out "Come in."

The Death Eater shoved the door open and Harry and Rose were shunted inside.

And suddenly Rose did not need to think on the identity of the owner of the name anymore. For the squat, toad-like woman who sat behind the desk with a black bow in her short hair and who was wearing far, far too much pink could have no other name than Dolores Umbridge.

That meant that the scowling, black robed man sitting in a chair next to the desk was most probably the Death Eater known as Yaxley.

With an expression that was somehow both simpering and maniacal at the same time, Dolores Umbridge spoke.

"Good afternoon, Mr Potter."

Her voice was so sickeningly sweet that Rose could almost feel the cavities opening up in her teeth.

She glanced towards Harry. A muscle in the side of his neck seemed to be spasming like mad.

But apart from that, he was maintaining a very unaffected persona, and he said nothing to acknowledge the toad-like monstrosity before them.

Rose had the sinking feeling that this meeting was going to end in bloodshed, and not everyone currently in this room was going to make it out alive.

With her knife and Harry's wand sitting in plain sight on Umbridge's desk, the odds of the survivors being either Harry or Rose did not look good.

* * *

**A/N: From one mad bitch to another! Shorter chapter this time, but it gets the job done. In this chapter you got to see that the Ministry is still as unchanging as ever, but more importantly, this chapter was Rose's turn to do the talking, and now Harry and Rose are where they need to be for the story to continue.**

**Next chapter you'll get to see what this pair is really made of.**


	8. Questions From a Toad

**A/N: In a change from the norm as far as this story goes, part of this chapter will be told from Harry's point of view.**

* * *

Darkened World

Questions from a Toad

The Death Eater standing behind Rose had such a forceful hold of her arms as he held them behind her back that she thought her shoulders might just dislocate.

The pink monstrosity that was Dolores Umbridge had picked up Harry's wand and was now twirling it between her short, pudgy fingers.

Yaxley was standing rigidly next to Umbridge's desk, his face expressionless and his soulless black eyes were constantly flicking between Harry and Rose.

"You have certainly given us quite the run-around, Mr Potter." said Umbridge, her sickly sweet voice dripping with gloating pleasure "But even after over twenty years, the Ministry caught you in the end, as you knew it would."

"Only after it bowed down to Voldemort's rule like the bunch of feckless cowards it represents." Harry practically growled in reply.

The Death Eater behind Harry pulled on his arm forcefully, and Yaxley's hand twitched as though he desired to go for his wand.

The smug smile dropped from Umbridge's face.

"The British Ministry of Magic is the finest of its kind in the world, and you would do well not to criticise it, Mr Potter. Now, tell me where you have been."

Harry gave her no answer.

"That wasn't a question, Mr Potter. I am ordering you to tell me where you have been."

Still Harry gave no answer.

Umbridge scowled "Still defying your superiors, Potter? Apparently my detentions with you during your fifth year were not effective enough. However…"

She placed Harry's wand back onto the table and drew her own. She aimed for Rose "I cannot help but wonder how Miss Granger here will hold up under the same punishment."

As she found herself facing the business end of the wand of Dolores Umbridge, Rose suddenly realised something. Everyone that they had encountered so far within the Ministry, including Bellatrix Lestrange, had been operating under the assumption that Rose was actually her mother. It seemed that no one knew just how badly the Golden Trio of Hogwarts had split apart. And nobody so far seemed to be all that concerned that Ron Weasley was not with them. But then again, they probably knew that the Weasley family had fled the country and probably assumed that Ron had gone as well.

Assuming that there was someone in this building intelligent enough to surmise such things, of course.

"And I should hardly need to point out to you, Mr Potter," continued Umbridge "that the Cruciatus Curse is entirely legal now."

"Is that so?" asked Harry.

"Indeed. Now, unless you begin to answer my questions, your little mudblood whore here will feel the full force of its sting."

Harry glanced towards Rose and then asked "What do you want from me?"

Umbridge's horrible smile returned "Yaxley, perhaps you should assist Goyle in taking Miss Granger here outside. I want to talk to Potter privately."

Yaxley protested "Now, Madam Umbridge, I really thing I ought to remain here, for your protection, of course."

No one in the room believed him. He just wanted the chance to get the same information as Umbridge in the hope that he could report it to Voldemort first.

Umbridge levelled a venomous glare towards him "I assure you, Yaxley, that I can handle Mr Potter. He is, after all, completely unarmed. And I am sure that Crabbe will be more than capable of providing me with backup should it become necessary."

Yaxley said nothing more. He merely gave a nod of his head and turned to follow Goyle as the large man jostled Rose out of the room. As she was being shoved along, Rose looked back over her shoulder at Harry, but all she could see was the back of his head.

One the door had shut with an audible click, Umbridge's interrogation really began.

"Where are they, Mr Potter?"

The question caught Harry a little off guard ""They"?" he asked "Who is "They"?"

"Your supporters. The muggles and mudbloods and the filthy half breeds that litter our country, plotting to overthrow the Ministry and pollute our perfect pureblood society with their filth."

Harry frowned "I have no supporters, you mad old cow. They've all fled, if you and your ilk didn't hunt them down and kill them first."

"Do not lie to me, Mr Potter." she picked up Rose's knife "This was confiscated from your little whore when you were captured. It is not Goblin made and so it must be muggle in origin. I know that you are consorting with them."

"You're barking." replied Harry.

Umbridge stared at his with a hard look from a moment before opening her desk drawer "You are not making this very easy, Mr Potter." she took out a sheaf of parchment and placed it on top on the desk for Harry to see "This is the warrant for the arrest of Miss Granger. A month ago she and several others broke into a Ministry-owned building and assassinated the pure blooded head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Mulciber."

Harry glanced down at the sheet of parchment. On it were two pictures; one was a blurry photograph of Rose that seemed to have been taken from someone's memory. The other was a portrait of a tall and distinguished looking man who was obviously meant to be Mulciber. He sort of looked like the bloke Harry remembered in the Battle of the Department of Mysteries, but there had obviously been a bit of artistic edits when the portrait was made; the man in the portrait didn't have features that screamed "psycho bastard" for example. Though maybe that was just Harry's memory playing up. The last he had seem of Mulciber had been when Alastor "Mad-Eye" Moody had blasted him across the Death Chamber room to smash into and then over a hunk of broken rock.

"Noble and Most Ancient House of Mulciber" Harry read off of the parchment. He looked up "Doesn't a family have to be over twenty generations old before getting the title of "ancient?" I'm sure I read somewhere that the Mulcibers were ten generations old, at best guess. Are they just giving the title away now?"

He was deliberately trying to annoy Umbridge. He knew from past experience that the more annoyed she got the most likely she was to make a mistake. Like when she willingly followed Harry and Hermione into the Forbidden Forest without someone watching her back.

Stupid old bat.

Umbridge's scowl deepened "You have a choice, Mr Potter. Either way you and your mudblood face execution. The Mulciber family is demanding that Miss Granger be turned over to them for them to "deal" with. And I can assure you that her death in that situation will not be a pleasant one. However, if you tell me everything that you know, I will take steps to ensure that her death is a quick one. The amount of pain involved will directly correspond with the amount and quality of the information you divulge, of course."

Harry stared at her. He always knew that this woman was foul, evil and fanatical, now he could officially add "twisted" and "delusional" to that list of adjectives.

"Well, Mr Potter? Will you cooperate with the Ministry to make your whore's death easier?"

Harry gave his answer in the form of a glob of phlegm spat right into the bitch's left eye.

Umbridge reeled back in disgust, and Harry made his move. It was awkward, but he managed to twist himself enough to smash the left side of his forehead into Crabbe's skull. Crabbe staggered backwards, clutching his face and giving a grunt of pain, and Harry dove for the desk, grabbing his wand in his right hand and Rose's knife in his left.

A flick of his wand had thick ropes winding themselves around Umbridge, tying her to her chair as he rounded on Crabbe.

"_Sectumsempra!_"

Crabbe was howling now, the agony of a hundred cuts opening all over his body was only comparable to the torture curse when it was performed by Voldemort.

But all of that noise drew the attention of others. The door to the room burst open and Goyle charged in first, followed by Yaxley.

Quick as a flash, Harry banished Rose's knife across the room, where it imbedded itself in Goyle's thick neck, piercing the trachea at it did so. Goyle crashed to the ground as Yaxley raised his wand and fired off a killing curse. Harry ducked the curse and it blew a chunk out of the wall behind him.

As Harry and Yaxley duelled, Rose scrambled into the room and dove towards Goyle. She grasped the handle of her knife and yanked it from the man's neck.

Harry dropped down and rolled behind Umbridge's desk, using the foul woman as cover from Yaxley.

The Death Eater made to move forward, but suddenly felt a terrible pain in his leg. He wheeled around to see that Rose, who was still on the ground, had come up behind him and driven her knife into his leg. He raised his wand to finish her when a spell from Harry caused his back to literally burst open in an explosion of gore.

What remained of the man fell to the floor with a fwump next to Rose.

As she got to her feet, Harry's wand made sure that Crabbe and Goyle were definitely dead before he turned his attention to Umbridge.

Footsteps came pounding along the corridor outside, not that Harry seemed to notice, and someone else burst into the room. Acting on instinct Rose swung her arm and drove her blade straight through the man's eye and into his brain.

Pius Thicknesse, Voldemort's puppet Minister, fell forwards and hit the floor with a thud.

While this was going on, Harry's attention was fully focused on the pink monstrosity bound to her chair behind her desk.

At this point, it is important to note the use of what are known as "modifiers" in spell use. These are additional words spoken at the end of an incantation to change the effect of the spell, usually to make it more powerful.

One example is "_Horribilis_", which, when added to the incantation for the standard Shield Charm (_Protego) _the spell changes to one that can protect a large area from Dark Magic. Another example is "_Solem_" which, when added at the end of the wand-lighting charm (_Lumos_) changes the spell from a power level similar to that of an average desk lamp to a powerful beam of light akin to sunlight. By far the most common addition is "_Maxima_" which can be added to the ends of many spells, charms and curses (including _Lumos, Protego_ and the explosion spell, _Bombarda_) to increase their power quite significantly. In theory "_Maxima_" could be added to the end of any incantation to make the spell stronger, but wizards rarely bother too much unless it is absolutely necessary. One spell never to have been tried with the "_Maxima_" modifier added is that of the torture curse (_Crucio_). Even after all this time, Voldemort has never tried it. Why would he? He uses the torture curse either for pleasure, for punishment, or to get information. Too much exposure to the torture curse results in the loss on ones' mind and even death. Adding the modifier of "_Maxima_" would make that end result come far too quickly for it to be of any use to Voldemort; a victim that died too fast gave him no pleasure, a follower who died could not fight again and a prisoner who died could offer no more information.

And that is why Harry Potter was about to do a _first_ amongst wizards. He wanted no information from Umbridge, he did not want her to live, and he would only get pleasure out of her death once she was dead.

"You'll never escape this building." she practically snarled.

"Perhaps not." replied Harry in a strangely calm voice "But if I do die, I'll make sure that as much of this building as possible is splattered with "_pure_" blood before I go. And as for you" he levelled his wand at her, pointing it right between her eyes "This is for every innocent soul that you have tortured and condemned to death in you miserable and pathetic life.

"_Crucio Maxima!"_

The screams of Dolores Umbridge as she died were terrible but, thankfully, short-lived. Her body spasmed and contorted violently in her chair, she choked on her own tongue, blood began to leak copiously from her ears, eyes and nose, and then her brain overloaded from the agony of it all.

Her end took less than thirty seconds.

"Holy crap!" exclaimed Rose.

"She deserved nothing less." said Harry, before turning to face the door.

The sounds of more running footsteps were coming from the corridor outside. Harry banished the corpse of the Minister to the other side of the room, away from the door, and then he and Rose threw themselves against the wall on either side of the open door.

Three men burst into the room this time, though only one was a Death Eater. All three were unprepared for an attack from behind. Rose stabbed one and he went down as Harry blew the head off of another before engaging the third, the Death Eater, in a duel that lasted only as long as it took for Rose to get near enough to stab him to.

Harry's wand made short work of the task of making sure that the two downed victims of Rose's knife stayed down, then Harry went around grabbing up the wands of all the fallen in the room.

Standing back from Thicknesse's body, Harry turned and saw Rose hurriedly going through Umbridge's desk and pulling out stack after stack and file after file of paperwork.

"What are you doing?" he asked.

"What does it look like?" demanded Rose "I'm gathering information."

Another Death Eater burst into the room and Harry killed him before saying "We really don't have time for this."

"Fine, shrink what I've got though." replied Rose.

Harry rolled his eyes and shrank all the paperwork to be small enough for Rose to shove it all into her pockets. Then she took the collected wands from him and began trying them out to find the best match for her. As she did that, Harry took down the next two Death Eaters to charge into the room. They lost the duel, and also their lives, quite quickly, but not before one of them had managed to clip Harry's shoulder with a poorly aimed cutting spell.

Rose now had a wand that was a half-decent match. She gave the rest to Harry for him to shove into his pocket and she patched him up with a healing charm.

Now they just had to escape.

Working as a pair, Harry and Rose charged into the corridor and violently blasted their way towards the golden lifts at the other end, cutting down everyone that got in their way. There was no point in worrying about just who these people were exactly, they worked for the Ministry and they were therefore considered enemies. Once more person left dead was another blow to this arm of Voldemort's influence.

One of the lifts trundled into place and the golden gate doors rattled open. Harry and Rose killed the four occupants and then jumped in.

As the lift began to move once again Harry said "Once we get to the Atrium, we'll need to get to the fireplaces as quickly as possible. Those are the apparition points, as well as being used for arrival by floo powder."

Rather than take Harry and Rose straight to Level Eight, which contained the atrium, the lift first made a stop on Level Two, which was home to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement. Given that all the so-called Aurors were now loyal to Voldemort and the pure-blood movement; this was exactly where Harry and Rose did not want to be. Their problem was made worse by the dozen or so people who wanted to get into the lift, presumably to get to Level 1 and stop Harry and Rose escaping from it.

"Oh bugger." exclaimed Rose.

Just as she was wondering what the hell they should do now, Harry's wand came up and he shouted out an incantation.

"_Pila Fulgur_!"

A bright blue sphere about the size of a beach ball formed from the tip of Harry's wand, its surface crackling and sparking with what had to be electricity. The sphere raced forwards, away from Harry and Rose, and blew the Aurors off of their feet and killed them. As the lift doors closed and the lift continued on towards the Atrium, the sphere hovered in the air and for the next five minutes anyone who got too close was fatally electrocuted.

"Where the hell did you learn something like that?" demanded Rose.

In answer, Harry merely pointed a finger towards the scar on his forehead that signified his link to Voldemort. Rose decided that that was all she needed to know on the matter.

The lift doors opened again on Level 6, and Harry sent another lightning ball into the Department of Magical Transportation.

"Hopefully that'll keep them occupied and prevent them closing the fireplaces off before we can escape." said Harry.

The Atrium was surprisingly bare when they reached it, only a few people were there to provide resistance. The rest were probably either working on the other level, or had taken the other lifts in and attempt to cut off Harry and Rose's escape on another level.

Idiots.

Some of the few people in the atrium ducked behind desks at the sight of the two prisoners. A few raised their wands, but none were a match for Harry. Also Rose wasn't too bad either.

Harry and Rose were halfway across the atrium when several of the lift doors behind them opened and a collection of Death Eaters, Aurors and other less skilled individuals came charging out. As Harry fired out several more lightning balls, Rose had another idea.

"_Piertotum Locomotor!"_

With a wave of her wand, the Magic Is Might monument came to life.

The bodies that were supposed to represent muggles who had been put in their "proper place" worked together to stand beneath the weight of the thrones upon which a stone wizard and witch sat. Together the stone muggles threw off their oppressors, and the stone witch, wizard and their thrones were hurtled through the air to come crashing down upon the heads of the real wizards. Then the forty or so stone muggles jumped off of their marble plinth and charged into the ranks of the advancing wizards. A good few of them were blown up, but the rest charged onwards to drive their fists into the faces and stomachs of the wizards and kick and stomp on those who fell.

It was a wonderful sight to behold.

Harry cast one final spell that cut them off from the Ministry wizards with a wall of fire as a last delaying tactic, and then he and Rose turned towards the fireplaces.

Every single one of them was sealed off.

The pair looked around and saw that there was something standing at the far end of the atrium. Whatever it was, it seemed to be covered in pieces of parchment.

Harry led the way towards it and, as they got closer, Rose saw that the pieces of parchment were actually "Wanted" posters. She saw faces that she recognised, either people who had escaped to Australia along with her parents, or whom she had seen in photo albums. She saw her Granddad Weasley, looking much younger than he was now, pictured beneath the heading "Muggle Lover." There was a picture of her Aunt Fleur and Uncle Bill, labelled as "Half-Breeds." There was her Aunt Angelina, under the title "Associate of Harry Potter." There was her father, Ron Weasley, labelled "Blood Traitor." Her Aunt Ginny was labelled with the same title. And there was her mother, labelled as "Mudblood – Undesirable Number Two." Rose couldn't help but think that some pure-blood families must have taken her mother's constant outshining of their kids at Hogwarts really personally for Hermione Granger to be listed as "Undesirable Number Two." Looking at the posters, that placed her as more dangerous than the entire Order of the Phoenix combined (after Dumbledore, McGonagall, Shacklebolt and Moody had been killed off, of course.)

And there he was; the face of a sixteen year old Harry Potter under the title of "Undesirable Number One."

The real Harry was ripping off these sheets of parchment and exposing what lay beneath. It was old, dirty, the windows were smashed and most of the pain peeled off, but there was no doubting what this thing was.

A red telephone box.

Harry wrenched open the door and told Rose to "Get in."

She did so. Then, just as Harry was about to follow her, the line of roaring fire that stretched from one side of the room to the other was dispelled and the remaining wizards began charging through.

Harry pointed his wand and shouted "_Ignis Pila Imber!"_

Two dozen fireballs, each the size of a football (soccer ball for any American readers) erupted from the tip of Harry's wand and began crashing into and around the approaching Ministry personnel.

Harry threw himself into the phone box and grabbed the receiver. He found no dial tone, and so just smashed his fist against the keypad.

Nothing happened.

"Damn it!" Harry cursed.

"Are we meant to go up?" asked Rose.

Following a nod from Harry, Rose pointed her wand straight up and incanted "_Alarte Acendare!_"

The spell hit the roof of the phone box and suddenly it began to shoot rapidly upwards.

Harry and Rose looked through the windows to see the Atrium burning below them.

Their ascent was not entirely straight and true, as such rather than simply pop up out of the ground at the point where it was supposed to, the phone box actually burst through several broken paving slabs a couple of feet to the left of their intended arrival point. They didn't immediately stop either; instead the phone box rose about ten feet into the air and then came down again, landing on the roof of a long-ago abandoned ford fiesta.

Harry feeling a little battered and bruised, Harry pushed himself up and opened the door (which was above him). He climbed out and then turned to help Rose out. She had a cut on her cheek and a couple of bumps, but otherwise seemed to be alright.

The climbed off of the ford fiesta and stood in the middle of the street.

"Is this London?" asked Rose, taking in all the devastation around her.

"It _was_ London." replied Harry, before grabbing her arm "Come on, let's get out of here."

And with that he disapparated, taking Rose with him.

They were heading home, if their tent could really be called that.

* * *

**A/N: So what do you think? People have been asking and waiting, and now you see that Parseltongue, nightmares and a scar are not the only things that Harry has gotten from Voldemort over the years.**

**Also, this is possibly the longest chapter of this story yet published.**

**If anyone is interested, **_**Pila Fulgur **_**means "Lightning Ball" and **_**Ignis Pila Imber**_** means "Fireball Shower."**

**Oh, and also as people keep asking, I will say here and now (though I think I said it in another A/N) that, no I do not plan to get Harry and Rose together romantically.**


	9. News and Moves

**A/N: Hello. I'm back. Arm is all better now, and I'd like to say a quick "thank you" to all well-wishers. I've been a bit naughty in that I began writing another story instead of updating this one. Truth is, that was really meant to be a little Halloween special, and I never imagined that it would be all that long. Now it has taken on a bit of a life of its own, so now I'm going to try and balance updating these two stories. It doesn't help that during my time off from work, I came up with about ten more story ideas in addition to the ones noted in my profile. Most will probably never amount to anything, but their possibilities get in the way of my planning of stories already in progress.**

**Anyway, I hope that this chapter proves to be worth the wait. We shall see…**

* * *

Darkened World

News and Moves

It was late into the next day before Harry dragged himself out of bed. Rose watched him worriedly as he stumbled through the tent and head outside, presumably to find a tree to use as a toilet, and then go for a wash in the stream.

If she were honest with herself, Rose was more than a little concerned about Harry. Following their escape from the Ministry the previous day, he had come into the tent, collapsed on top of his bed while still fully clothed and fell asleep, only waking up now, some twenty hours later. Clearly the amount of magic and physical activity involved in escaping from the confines of the Ministry had taken its toll on Harry. Some of the spells he used were quite powerful and destructive in nature, not to mention long-lasting.

On the other hand, regardless of her concerns about Harry and the events of the previous day, Rose could not help but feel just a little elated about the situation as well. Yesterday she had seen the Harry that her mother had seen, the Harry that she had thought was lost. It was the Harry that had once cast a patronus charm so powerful that it drove off one hundred Dementors at once. It was the Harry that had forced Lord Voldemort's wand to submit to his in the Little Hangleton graveyard. It was the Harry who killed a Basilisk, who protected the Philosopher's Stone, who faced down Dragons, Trolls and Spynxes with courage and determination.

It was the Harry who had some fight in him.

So in a way, going to Godric's Hollow had been the right thing to do after all.

Sort of.

During Harry's extended nap, Rose had kept herself busy by doing what women on the maternal side of her family had been doing for generations: she had been reading.

She had been pouring over the paperwork that she had stolen from that foul woman's desk at the Ministry, looking for all the information that might prove even marginally useful to them, and she was very pleased with the results.

Hair damp after washing the last few days' worth of grime off of his face, Harry re-entered the tent and flopped down in a seat at the table. He quickly snatched up a metal goblet and poured himself a glass of water from the jug before his eyes caught the expression on Rose's face. Despite his having not seen it in two decades, Harry knew that look oh so very well. It was the look that her mother used to get when she had information to share that was oh so very important (although whether or not the recipient of said information shared that same view on its importance was sometimes a whole other matter entirely).

Deciding to bite the bullet, he asked "So, did you find anything of interest?"

"Well, a good lot of it was highly unimportant," said Rose "mostly the kind of bureaucratic drivel you'd associate with any governing body but, well, look at this…"

She handed Harry a roll of official-looking parchment which he took and unrolled.

"What am I meant to be looking at?" he asked.

"It explains why Bellatrix was in the graveyard." explained Rose.

Harry took his eyes off of the parchment to look at her "But we know why she was there; to capture me."

Rose rolled her eyes "Harry, didn't you even wonder why Bellatrix Lestrange, a woman widely believed to be Voldemort's second in command and the best of his lieutenants was sitting in a destroyed graveyard, waiting there on the off-chance that you might possibly turn up there for the first time in years?"

"Well, I suppose when you put it like that…" muttered Harry.

"And didn't you wonder why she didn't know about Voldemort relocating to join the frontline of battle in Germany? For that matter, didn't you wonder why she wasn't one of the ones to go with him?"

"Alright, I get it." said Harry "So why?"

Rose reached out and tapped a finger on the parchment "She screwed up. Big time too, I might add."

Harry sat up a little straighter in his chair "How? When?"

"About three weeks ago," replied Rose "though the only reason given here is something about _dereliction of duty in the line of defence_."

Harry frowned and commented "_Dereliction of Duty_? But with Voldemort that could mean anything, including no kissing the hem of his robes properly."

"Yes," said Rose, agreeing with Harry's comment about the man's ego "but what about the _in the line of defence_ bit?"

Harry's eyes widened "Wait. You don't think she…"

Rose nodded "…lost a battle? Yes, I do."

Harry shook his head in disbelief "But how? What evidence is there of that?"

"I'm not sure yet," answered Rose "but it's bound to be in amongst this lot somewhere." she gestured to the small mountain of pilfered paperwork "Help me look?"

Harry blew out a long-suffering sigh "Fine." and went to grab a piece of parchment when his stomach gave a rather audible growl of displeasure.

"Someone's hungry then," observed Rose with her eyebrow quirked in amusement. That quickly ended when her own stomach voiced its displeasure at the lack of food passing through it.

"Guess I'd better sort us out with something to eat." said Harry, getting up out of the chair "Though I don't think we've got much."

"There should still be a few apples in the cupboard." said Rose, picking up another sheaf of parchment "Hopefully the preservation spells are still holding."

A couple of minutes later her reading was interrupted by Harry placing a plate of food down on the table beside her. All it contained was an apple, a handful of nuts and a mushroom. She looked at the meagre rations sadly and commented "Might be time to go out hunting and gathering again."

Harry nodded in agreement as he said down, though he said nothing. Taking a bite of her apple, which was on the brink of going bad, Rose found herself longing for the taste of something with a bit of meat to it. What she wouldn't give for just a little sliver of pigeon…

The pair continued to slowly eat and read in silence for the next half hour or so, until the silence was suddenly broken, rather violently, by Harry.

Choking, Harry thumped himself on the chest to help dislodge a bite of apple that had tried to go down the wrong pipe when something had suddenly caught his eye. Suddenly the bit of apple worked free and, accompanied by a spluttering cough it flew from Harry's mouth.

Rose was on her feet "Are you alright?"

Still coughing and unable to speak, Harry simply gave a nod and handed to her the piece of parchment that he had been reading. Rose took it and read.

What she saw written there caused her eyes to widen "This is fantastic!" she exclaimed.

"I know." replied Harry in a croaky voice.

"This must be how Bellatrix screwed up." said Rose "She was in charge of Ireland, and she lost it!"

The parchment in her hand was a document detailing the official report on a battle that had taken place just three weeks previously, not too long after Rose had met Harry. With most of Voldemort's forces known to be away from the UK, fighting Indian, Chinese and Australian (amongst others) Aurors in Germany, a taskforce comprised of Aurors from the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil and a couple of other countries had launched an assault on Ireland from the west. While Voldemort had been busying himself with defending against attacks from the east, he had left some of his inner circle Death Eaters to manage other aspects of his society. This included leaving Bellatrix in charge of the defence of Ireland in anticipation of an attack from Wizards who lived on the opposite side of the Atlantic.

As anticipated, they had attacked. Unanticipated was the fact that Bellatrix and her forces were overwhelmed and forced to retreat.

"Bellatrix was in command of three hundred wizards and witches, most of who were killed or captured during the course of the battle." Rose read off of the parchment "It's no wonder she retreated."

"And it's also no wonder why Voldemort isn't impressed with her." commented Harry "What about the invaders?"

"It seems they've set up camp in Ireland." replied Rose "Though the parchment doesn't say where. Voldemort's boosted defences along the coastlines that face Ireland, particularly in Wales and southwest Scotland."

Harry's eyes widened "Rose, we're in Wales."

She looked puzzled "Are we?"

Harry frowned in confusion "I think so… aren't we? Oh, I don't know anymore, I've moved around so much over the years…"

"Really?" asked Rose "We haven't moved from this place in all the time that I've been here."

"You're right." said Harry, a look of dawning realisation spreading over his face "We've been here too long."

"I'm sure it's fine." said Rose, but Harry just shook his head.

"No, we need to move, they might have put tracking charms on us at the Ministry."

"I really doubt that."

"Have you checked?"

"No I haven't."

Harry drew his wand and quickly hit her with a spell. To her surprise the result was a faint blue glow around her body, the confirmation of the presence of tracking charms. Harry cast the same spell on himself with the same results.

"We really need to move." he said, using his wand to dispel the charms.

"Hang on, if they put those spells on us, why haven't they already found us? It's been nearly a full day."

"Probably busy clearing up the mess we made." replied Harry "And that's why we need to get out of here quickly." He looked around the tent "Tell you what, you pack everything up, I'll gather us some food. I'll be back in two hours."

And before Rose could stop him he had gone.

* * *

When Harry came back to the tent, Rose was relieved to see the pair of Pheasants, the trio of Rabbits and the sack of mushrooms, nuts and berries that he brought with him. Holding up the dead animals he commented "Snares came up good."

Rose nodded in appreciation. She usually didn't think highly of such things, but there was no denying that they were proving themselves very useful "Did you take them apart?"

Harry gave a nod "We'll need them at our next site. You pack up everything?"

"Yeah, Horcruxes too." answered Rose.

Harry gave her a look of concern "Were you alright with them?"

Rose shifted uncomfortably and said "The locket didn't bother me, but the cup…" she broke off, but Harry understood nonetheless.

"Any thoughts on where we should go?" Rose queried.

"Doesn't really matter, so long as its remote." said Harry.

"Well, actually while you were gone" said Rose "I did a bit of thinking. Why don't we go to Ireland? Join up with the military presence there?"

"That sounds like a very good idea Rose," said Harry "and I would whole-heartedly agree were it not for the fact that I have never been to Ireland, and I'm guessing that you haven't either?"

Rose shook her head in answer to his question.

"And seeing as neither of us has been to Ireland, neither of us could apparate there. Nor could either of us make a port-key to go there. We don't have the luxury of floo powder, nor do we have brooms. Crossing by boat is highly likely to end in disaster, presuming we can find one, and trying to swim there would have even worse results."

"Fine," muttered Rose, annoyed at having the so obvious flaws of magical transportation pointed out to her when she herself hadn't even considered such problems "Where then? My other thought was to get nearer Hogwarts."

Harry frowned at her "And why would we want to go there of all places?"

"Well you've said it yourself, we need access to Hogwarts so that you can get either Gryffindor's sword or some Basilisk venom, and you need to search the place for any Horcruxes."

"Yes, but Hogwarts is guarded day and night by Death Eaters, Dementors and many other foul things, as well as being protected by very powerful magic. The place is impenetrable."

"True, but we have to suppose that sooner or later either those wizards who took over Ireland or the ones looking to reclaim Germany are going to launch an attack on Hogwarts. When they do, we can either join them or, with Voldemort's power drawn elsewhere, we can sneak in."

Harry buried his face in his hands "I've had enough of these sorts of plans in my lifetime." he moaned.

Rose's eyes narrowed in a way that was so reminiscent of her mother it was frightening "You got a better plan?"

"No." he admitted.

"Well?"

Harry huffed in annoyance and uttered a grumbled "Fine."

* * *

Under the cover of total darkness, Harry Potter and Rose Weasley appeared on the side of one of the mountains that surrounded Hogwarts castle without a sound. They quickly ducked down behind a large piece of rock that jutted out of the mountainside and peered over the top of it towards the castle. In the distance Hogwarts was illuminated by magic-powered lights that shone brightly through the many windows. The lights were reflected across the surface of the Black Lake.

"Wow." muttered Rose in awe of the place she had heard so much about through the years.

"Shame you couldn't have seen it before it was bastardised." commented Harry, turning away. With a flick of his wand the tent set itself up, hidden from view by the rock that Rose was still looking over.

Rose conjured up a pair of binoculars and held them to her eyes to view the castle better. What she saw made her heart sink.

In the light provided by the castle, it was possible to survey most of the grounds. Harry was right, the place was guarded heavily. In fact it seemed as though he hadn't exaggerated in the slightest. Death Eaters, Dementors, Giants, Trolls, Werewolves, Vampires, Ogres, Hags and all manner of other, similar creatures seemed to swarm over the grounds like marching ants. Looking up towards the castle itself, Rose saw that this was no better. Even from this distance she could make out the Death Eaters and Dementors patrolling the battlements.

From behind her she heard Harry say "Even if we covered ourselves with my Invisibility Cloak and put scent masking and silencing spells on ourselves we wouldn't avoid detection for long if we went in there."

Looking back to the castle, Rose found that she couldn't help but agree with those sentiments entirely.

"_Protego Totalum._" Harry incanted behind her, causing her to look back towards him again. He had his wand in his hand and he was setting up protective enchantments around their tent. "_Protego Maxima. Protego Horribilis. Salvio Hexia. Fianto Duri. Repello Inimicum. Cave Inimicum. Repello Bestia."_

Rose watched as Harry circled their site, repeating each spell at certain intervals. She was surprised; she hadn't heard of half of them before.

Finally he was done and came over to sit by her and take in the sight of an enemy-controlled Hogwarts as well.

Nervously, Rose asked "Now what?"

Harry just gave a shrug of his shoulders and said "And now we wait."

* * *

**A/N: I hope that that was worth the wait. If not, well….. (shrugs) The chapter progresses the story to where it needs to be in order to continue, we get a little information about the war and a question that a good number of reviewers asked me is now answered.**

**Oh, and for those wondering, I made up _Repello Bestia_ which means _Repel_ _Beast_, used keep Werewolves and the like out of the way.**


	10. The Retreat

**A/N: Here's the next chapter. A fair bit of it is told from Voldemort's point of view, but in the form of a vision of Harry's. Enjoy**

* * *

A Darkened World

The Retreat

A week had passed since Harry and Rose had arrived on the mountainside overlooking Hogwarts castle and, apart from one incident involving a Werewolf that had gotten a little too close for comfort before losing interest, their presence had gone completely unnoticed.

In the time since their arrival, both Harry and Rose had taken turns keeping a diligent watch over the castle and its surrounding grounds, keeping an eye out for any break in ranks, any tell-tale sign of a weak link in the castle's fortifications, some way to slip passed the guards and infiltrate the castle.

So far the only thing worthy of note was that the Covered Bridge, which connected the Stone Circle to the Clock Tower Courtyard, was not subject to a regular patrol of guards. The only time it was used was when those tasked with patrolling the grounds of the castle swapped shifts, something which seemed to occur once every five hours.

Unfortunately the pathway between the Stone Circle and Hagrid's Hut (or what remained of it) on the edge of the forbidden forest _was_ closely guarded. Also the Clock Tower Courtyard, although usually empty for the most part, was watched over by guards who were stationed inside the Clock Tower itself. For now though, the Covered Bridge still appeared to be their beast option for infiltrating the school, as all other entrances were far more heavily guarded.

The main Viaduct which connected the Entrance Courtyard to the hills on the other side of the Ravine that surrounded part of the castle was a definite no-go for them. Two Giants stood watchfully at either end of the Viaduct, with two more marching in patrol along its length, alongside fifty of Voldemort's wizard followers. The entrance gates, through which the Thestral-drawn carriages used to travel to take the students up to the castle on the first day of term was also heavily guarded, as was the stairway that connected the boathouse to the Entrance Courtyard.

The Whomping Willow that once resided in the grounds had long since been cut down and the entrance to the secret passageway that led to the Shrieking Shack near Hogsmeade Village was blocked off. Harry's previous experiences had shown that the other secret passages out of the castle, such as the one-eyed witch passageway which connected a corridor on Hogwarts' third floor to the basement of Honeydukes' Sweet Shop in Hogsmeade, were all also blocked up. The entrance located between the Greenhouses and the Charms corridor was watched closely as well (not that they could get to the greenhouses in the first place!)

For now at least, it seemed that their best they do was wait and hope that something might draw the guards away from one of the entrances.

When they had first arrived on the mountainside, Rose had assumed that the castle appeared so black, despite the lighting that came from within, because it was night-time. By daylight, however, it had become clear that the light, sandstone-hued stone walls of the castle that her mother used to describe to her had changed over time, eventually coming to reflect the evil that now dwelt within.

Harry had noted that Gryffindor Tower was no longer standing, presumably torn down upon Voldemort's order as it reflected everything that he was not. The Ravenclaw tower had been allowed to remain standing, however, though Harry doubted that the students were sorted into any house other than Slytherin anymore.

A good number of smaller towers and turrets had been added as well, all designed for the purposes of defence.

Hagrid's Hut and the Whomping Willow were not the only things absent from the grounds either. The Quidditch Pitch no longer stood; Voldemort clearly had no desire to allow those under his dominion to waste time with leisurely activities such as sports.

A good part of the Forbidden Forest was missing as well, like the Whomping Willow the ancient and mighty sycamores, aspens, scots pines, oaks, birches, rowans and junipers that once enclosed the grounds had been cut down and either burnt or used to construct the castle's new features. It seemed unlikely that Voldemort had left any of the forest's former inhabitants survive, be they Centaur, Unicorn, Hippogriff, Thestral or Acromantula.

All of this, of course, was nothing new to Harry, that much was obvious to Rose. Of course, he had been here before and seen it before. In fact, she suspected that he probably seen a vast majority of the changes happening, all the while knowing better than to try and stop it, not that he could have done so, anyway.

What did appear to make Harry uncomfortable, however, were the Werewolves. When they had first arrived, Rose hadn't given the matter much thought other than to acknowledge that there were Werewolves patrolling the grounds with the Death Eaters. However the warning signs were there: there were Werewolves in their wolf form, but the moon was crescent, not full. At first she had just assumed that Voldemort had found a way to make it so that the Werewolves could change into their wolf form at night, rather than just at the full moon. Then the sun came up and the Werewolves did not revert back to their human form.

Rose had then speculated that the Werewolves were now able to change form in the same way as an animagus, being completely untied from the cycle of the moon. Harry suggested that Voldemort had merely found a way to trap them in their wolf form at all times.

Both notions were frightening in their own right, but either way Voldemort must have cast some kind of enchantment over them to prevent them attacking the Death Eaters that they patrolled with. There again, with the number of spells and potions in the world, from Imperius and Confundus to Amortentia and Forgetfulness Potions, all of which were were designed to control and/or alter ones behaviour and personality, this did not seem like such an improbable feat.

A bell sounding from within the castle signalled that it was time for the guard to switch. Rose glanced down at her watch. It was time for her and Harry to swap watch duty as well.

Rising from her position near the rocky outcrop that shielded their tent, Rose walked over to the tent and went inside, where she hoped Harry was getting come sleep.

He was sleeping, though it was far from a peaceful slumber.

* * *

_Dream Sequence_

_A series of massive fireballs soared through the air and came crashing down in amongst the ranks of the Dark Forces that were fighting with everything they had to maintain their hold upon what remained of the German city of Hamburg._

_As his followers returned fire Voldemort stood above it all, surveying the situation from atop a ruined building, a deep scowl marring his ugly pale face._

_Four days ago he and his forces had had to admit defeat in Berlin and had retreated. Now, having had barely any time to recover, the forces of the International Confederation of Wizards were upon him again, having launched attacks upon his final stronghold in Germany from the north east, south east and east in the early hours of the morning. _

_The enemy troops consisted mainly of Aurors and Hit Wizards (or whatever their county's equivalent was) from India, China, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and the Philippines. But their ranks were heavily bolstered by the survivors of his claiming of Europe. Not only that, these wizards and witches also brought with them a whole host of creatures to fight alongside them, creatures that Voldemort could only fantasise about controlling._

_With much of the city now out of his control, Voldemort knew that it was only a matter of time before he would be forced to call a retreat. And with that retreat he would be abandoning not only the country of Germany, but also the entire European mainland to his enemies. He could not bring himself to do that just yet. He would dent his enemies' forces further before letting them have this land._

"_My Lord!" an exhausted voice called out to him. He spun around and saw a battle-worn Lucius Malfoy, apparently having abandoned the north-western part of the city._

"_My Lord," said Lucius again "The Indian Ministry has brought Basilisks to oppose us."_

"_How many?" asked Voldemort, knowing full well just how damaging Basilisks could be._

"_I dared not look upon them for too long, for fear that I would see their eyes" said Lucius "But a counted at least three."_

_Voldemort hissed in anger. Basilisks were highly deadly creatures that were also difficult to kill, even with the killing curse. Despite common misconceptions, the killing curse was not capable of destroying everything. Creatures like Basilisks, Dragons, Manticores and even Giants had certain amounts of magical resistance. An average strength Death Eater could kill a dozen wizards with the killing curse without breaking a sweat. Put that same wizard up against a dragon and their spell might cause a bit of damage to the scales, in the same way that it might blow a chunk of wall apart, but the dragon would be largely unfazed because of the magical properties of its own armour; there were reasons that it took at minimum a dozen stunning spells to subdue a dragon._

_Once again Voldemort found himself cursing Harry Potter. Had the brat not slain the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets, Voldemort's campaign to seize control of the world would have gone much more smoothly._

_An uprising like this certainly would not have happened, as the Basilisk's glare could have been used to kill hundreds in once go._

_With a bellowing scream of agony, Golgomath, the leader of the Giants under Voldemort's control, toppled over backwards, clutching at his wounds and crushing two Death Eaters not fast enough to get out of the way._

_From above there came a mighty roar. Voldemort looked skywards and saw the powerful body of a dragon, a Chinese Fireball to be exact, swooping down from the dark clouds above them. Six other members of its species flew in arrow formation behind it._

_On the ground below terrified Death Eaters attempted to flee as others aimed their wands skywards to try and blast the fire breathing beasts out of the sky._

_Their bodies being peppered by spells, each of the dragons opened their fanged mouths and each spat out a ball of fire. The ground below them, and everything that stood upon it was engulfed in flame._

_With a yell of fury Voldemort raised his wand and aimed at the lead Dragon._

"_Avada Kedavra!"_

_Just because it was impossible for most Wizards did not mean it was impossible for someone of Voldemort's power._

_In a flash of green light, the Dragon died, but obviously there is a risk with killing a large flying creature when it is in flight: it cannot fly anymore._

_The Fireball's immense, scaly body crashed to the ground, crushing anything unfortunate enough to find itself beneath it._

_The other Dragons, whom Voldemort now noticed for the first time carried human riders, did not take too kindly to their leader being killed. Voldemort managed to kill the first to come after him, and it too went crashing to the ground. The second tried to bite him but missed; however before Voldemort could curse it, its clawed hind legs raked across his torso, drawing blood. Voldemort was knocked over, winded and bleeding as the head of the third dragon came into view. At is opened the hooked beak that was its jaws Voldemort disapparated. He was one of few to escape the rooftop. The rest, including Lucius, were roasted._

_Below the building, Voldemort collapsed against a heap of rubble and cast healing charms to his torso, closing up his wounds and stopping the flow of the blood._

_His attention was suddenly drawn to screams coming from the rear-lines of his followers. Above all that noise, however, he heard the hissing, rasping voice of a serpent. He did not need to look to know that a battalion of Indian Aurors had led a Basilisk into the ranks of the rear-guard._

_More and more explosions were occurring all around. His followers were dropping to the ground left, right and centre. Another wave of cutting curses tore into the frontlines._

_Something landed on the floor at Voldemort's feet, splashing his robes with blood. He looked down and saw that it was the head of Antonin Dolohov, one of the highest ranking Death Eaters._

_With a roar an immense creature, at least twelve feet in height charged out from a side street and pounced upon on of the Mountain Trolls. Looking like some kind of cross between a crocodile, a dog and warthog, the creature was a Bunyip, a water-dwelling beast that came from Australia. Its clawed forelimbs fore into the Troll's flesh at its dagger-like teeth sank deeply into the neck._

_Other Mountain Trolls were engaged in battle with Jungle Trolls out of the tropics as Werewolves found themselves confronted by their Indian counterparts; Weretigers. Seeing one of the foreign lycans tearing out the throat of Fenrir Greyback convinced Voldemort that it was now time to give up._

"_RETREAT!" he bellowed so that all his forces could hear him "RETREAT! FALL BACK TO BRITAIN! MAKE PORTKEYS, BRING THE CREATURES WITH YOU! RETREAT!"_

_Once upon a time he would have just gotten the wizards out and abandoned the creatures to their deaths. Now though, he knew he would need them. He would need as many as possible._

_As others simply fled, some grabbing the wounded, a few began hurriedly making portkeys out of the rubble. Voldemort himself quickly made a dozen and sent them towards his legion of Trolls. The moment a portkey touched one of them it vanished._

"_RETREAT!" Voldemort bellowed again, fear gripping him. He knew he had his Horcruxes, but he dreaded becoming a wraith again. Moreover he dreaded what sort of world he might come back to if he were to be bashed for another thirteen years, like before._

_He was now aware that he was practically wading through the blood of his followers. More than half of the forces that were stationed in the city that morning had been decimated._

_All who could get out had gotten out. Voldemort raised his wand and sent a pulse of dark energy towards his enemies. There was an explosion of darkness, and Voldemort made his escape, intending to have his forces regroup at Hogwarts. The Ministry Building would have to be abandoned in order to bring more man-power to the castle. He would draw his enemy right into the heart of his stronghold, and there the fighting would be done on his terms._

_His enemies had won the battle, but the war was far from over._

_End Dream Sequence_

* * *

"Harry?" the voice asked, as though from somewhere off in the distance "Harry, are you alright?"

Harry opened his eyes and the world came into view, although it was a bleary one. None the less, he could make out Rose standing over him, looking at him worriedly.

Noticing that he was shaking, he took a deep breath to calm himself and then announced "He's retreated from Germany."

Confused, Rose opened her mouth to say something, but a loud commotion outside caught their attention.

Harry shoved on his glasses and followed Rose outside.

Looking through their binoculars they saw the army making its retreat. Death Eaters swept towards the castle, using levitation spells to take their injured with them.

There were all sorts, from Wizards and Witches to Giants, Trolls, Dementors, Vampires and Werewolves.

Then there came a figure who, in spite of the distance separating them, Rose could just feel the evil radiating off of.

"That's him?" she asked with a whisper.

Harry nodded "Yeah. That's him alright."

"The war effort must being going well." Rose observed.

"Yeah, but that is not necessarily a good thing for us." replied Harry.

"Why not?"

"Because we need to get inside that castle." Harry stated, bluntly "And that castle had just received a boost in the numbers of people and creatures available to guard it. And those numbers now include Voldemort himself within them."

With a weary groan Rose allowed her head to drop onto the rock ledge "Crap." she grumbled miserably.

Ideally they wanted Voldemort's forces divided as well as distracted. Ideally they wanted a good number of Voldemort's forces battling in Germany whilst the American forces somehow drew out those guarding the castle and providing enough of a distraction to allow Harry and Rose to get inside via an unguarded route.

However, as Harry Potter knew only too well, and as Rose Weasley was quickly coming to learn, things in life rarely worked out in the way in which you ideally wanted them to.

But at least Voldemort was still unaware of what had occurred at his Ministry. It seemed he had been content with trusting those who ran it to keep Harry hostage whilst he fought alongside his warriors.

He was going to be in for a shock when he tried to call in his Puppet Minister, and Harry rather hoped that that would be a moment he got to witness; anything not going the Dark Lord's way usually cheered Harry up a little. And with a bit of luck, Voldemort might just kill a few more of his own followers in the process.

* * *

**A/N: So how was that? Let me know. I've never written a fight from Voldemort's point of view before, and it didn't really feel right to do so; fights are supposed to be from the good guy's point of view. If any of you think that he was out of character, just remember he's faced opponents with stronger wills that most of those he faced in canon. He has learned the hard way that some people, when they get a killing curse thrown at them, will dodge it and throw one back.**


	11. Possible Allies and Discord

**A/N: Here's the next chapter, in which those from the Americas arrive.**

* * *

**A Darkened World**

Possible Allies and Discord

Rose was seated at the table within the tent, absentmindedly leafing through the pages of a book without paying any attention to them.

It had been three days since Harry had had the vision of Voldemort's defeat in Germany, and the subsequent retreat that they had witnessed, which had confirmed the vision as being real.

Since then, a slow yet steady stream of Death Eaters, Dementors and Dark Creatures had been arriving slightly beyond the ward line of Hogwarts Castle before making their way up to the building on foot. On average, a new group would arrive every two hours or so. It seemed likely that all of Voldemort's forces stationed in Britain had returned to the castle within the first twenty four hours, as the groups arriving then had been the largest. More recently the groups arriving had been much smaller, suggesting that they instead were units from other countries who had remained hidden in order to sabotage and/or infiltrate their enemies' ranks from behind.

Harry was currently outside of the tent, keeping an eye out for the next group to arrive, which according to the timetable they had calculated, should have turned up a quarter of an hour before.

Just as she was beginning to wonder if perhaps the last of Voldemort's followers had arrived and that no more were coming, Rose's attention was pulled towards Harry as he entered the tent.

"They're here."

Rose stood up and followed Harry back outside the tent.

Standing at the very edge of the area protected by their enchantments, Harry and Rose were able to watch as several small groups of Dark Wizards popped into existence about twenty yards from the ward line that surrounded Hogwarts. They had apparated and, a couple of moments later a dozen creatures arrived by portkey. All in all there were around fifty or so witches and wizards, four Mountain Trolls and eight Werewolves in their transformed state (Voldemort had long ago figured out a way to trap his Werewolves in their beast form).

"This group is bigger than the last one." Rose observed with an uneasy tone of voice.

Harry made no comment in reply, and when she took a glancing look at him, Rose saw that he had a stony expression upon his face; emotionless and almost unfeeling.

The first spell caught Harry and Rose by surprise. It caught the Death Eaters by surprise as well, and it cut in half the man who appeared to be their leader. Before the Death Eaters could rally themselves to return fire, spells were suddenly being fired upon them from all directions. Whoever it was that was firing the spells, they were either invisible, well concealed or both. And the spells were not simply to stun either; piercing spells, blasting curses, reductor curses, entrails-expelling curses, severing charms and yes, even killing curses. Whoever it was that was attacking had no intention of leaving any of the dark group alive. But the Death Eaters did manage to begin returning fire, and several of their spells hit targets with lethal results. As one of the Trolls went down three of the Werewolves sprang towards one of the sources of spell-fire. One of them was cut down but the other two managed to pounce upon their hidden target. As they wrestled the victim to the ground, a severing charm carved clean through the spine of one of the beasts, but the other managed to tear his victim's throat out in his jaws before being drought down.

Only when the last Death Eater dropped to the ground, blood pouring from a deep and deadly wound on his neck did their attackers reveal themselves. They had used disillusionment charms to disguise themselves and then used the nearby rocks and sparse vegetation around them for extra cover.

Rose's eyes lit up at the sight of them. She turned to Harry.

"Harry, we've got help! Those are Aurors from the United States and Canada. Come on, we've got to go to them."

Just as she was turning to walk through the ward line they had set up around the tent, Harry reached out and grabbed her arm to pull her back.

"Not so fast." he said "Those Aurors have just been involved in a lethal battle, a battle in which they suffered severe casualties. Now, given those circumstances, what do you think their first reaction would be if you suddenly appeared out of nowhere and headed towards them?"

Rose winced. Chastised she asked "What do we do then?"

Harry turned his eyes back on the group of wizards and witches below who were currently vanishing the bodies of their enemies and gathering up their injured and dead.

"That many Aurors in one place at one time, this ambush wasn't a reconnaissance mission turned violent. They must have moved their camp somewhere nearby. If we can find that then we might be able to approach them there. We'd probably be arrested by guards at the perimeter, but it's better than getting killed here."

"How do we locate their camp?" Rose asked.

Before Harry could answer, the pair received another surprise. The protective enchantments that Harry had placed around the tent were usually invisible. For a brief moment they turned a bright blue before becoming orange and breaking apart to nothing.

The two of them spun around and found seven US Aurors standing a little further up the slope, each with their wands aimed at Harry and Rose.

The Auror in the centre of the line addressed them "Put any and all weapons on the floor, place your hands on your heads and make no sudden moves."

Taking her knife and her wand out of her pockets, Rose distinctly heard Harry mutter the word "Bugger." under his breath as he mirrored her actions.

* * *

With blindfolds covering their eyes and their hands securely bound behind their backs, Harry and Rose were marched blindly along amongst the ranks of the US and Canadian Aurors.

Completely disorientated, Rose had to wonder just what would happen now. Initially she had been delighted by the sight of the North American wizards and witches, but now she was beginning to think that that happiness was woefully misguided.

At least she and Harry weren't dead.

After what felt like a good half-hour's worth of marching, Harry and Rose were both pulled to a stop.

"And what have we got here?" asked a male voice.

"Two unknowns." answered a second voice, female this time, from off to Rose's left "They were hiding behind protective enchantments slightly above the point where we set our ambush. We figured the boss would want a few words with them before we decide what to do with them."

"He's in a consultation with our Minister and the ones from Canada and Mexico right now. Shove them into one of the prisoner tents for now."

"Yes, sir. Come on you two."

Still blindfolded, Rose found herself being jostled forwards again, presumably to await questioning. At least they were going to get a chance to plead their case. Hopefully things would be easily sorted out once she gave over her details; details that would confirm her identity as someone involved in the war effort; they were bound to have some kind of record of who she was seeing as her last mission has seen her working alongside three Americans and a Canadian. And with any luck they would quickly recognise Harry for who he was and they'd all be able to start working on a plan to locate the Horcruxes within that were still hidden within the ancient walls of Hogwarts Castle.

Although she didn't see the tent, she knew when they dragged her inside of one. She was shoved unceremoniously into a seat, and she heard Harry being pushed into another nearby. She gasped slightly when she felt cold metal chains wrapping themselves around her, securing her to the chair.

"Harry?" she half called, half asked.

"Quiet." spoke another voice before Harry could answer.

Rose chose to not speak again.

* * *

After what seemed like a good few hours, the blindfold was pulled away from Rose's eyes and the off her head completely.

She looked around with a bleary gaze and blinked a few times. The world came into focus and she turned to look at Harry just in time to see the blindfold being pulled off of his head.

She noticed that they did not give his glasses back to him.

Around the room at least two dozen US and Canadian Aurors were standing guard as a man took a seat before them. Rose noticed that he had an image of the flag of the United States of America sewn into the sleeve of his robes, just below shoulder level. Below that was the symbol for the International Confederation of Wizards.

He was a man in his late fifties with white hair that was rather short in length and a thick white moustache.

Without preamble, or even extending the common courtesy of introducing himself, he demanded "Who are you?"

Deciding to ignore the unpleasant look on his face, Rose answered "Rose Weasley. I am an agent of the Australian Ministry of Magic."

The man raised one eyebrow at her and asked "Identification number?"

"1037122." Rose replied.

The man gestured to one of the Aurors standing guard and the man came forward. With a flick of his wand a file appeared on the interrogators lap. Rose noticed that it was labelled with the "Australian Ministerial Personnel; Numbers 1037000 – 1038000."

The interrogator rifled through the folder until he found what he was looking for. Removing a piece of parchment from the file, he then shoved said file towards the Auror who took it from him. The man then scanned the parchment intently. Rose knew he was trying to discover any discrepancies.

"Says here that you are listed as "Missing in action, presumed dead.""

Rose nodded and admitted "Yes, that raid did not go as well as was planned."

The man nodded "I knew your group's leader. He was a good man."

He turned back to the parchment in his hand. After a few moments he said "Well, you appear to match the description provided, including your identification photograph. Though your wand, as listed here, should be Ooline wood with the ground up antler of a Gunni for its core. However the one we found on you was of Oak wood with a Dragon heartstring for its core."

"Yes," said Rose "I lost my wand in the fight that saw me separated from my group. I took that wand from a Death Eater at a later date, and found it to be an adequate, though far from perfect match for me."

The interrogator nodded "Just one last thing to verify who you are…" he drew a wand and fired a quick spell at her. Rose's whole body took on a yellow glow for a moment before the spell left her body and shot towards the piece of parchment in their interrogator's hand.

When the parchment took on a blue glow, the man smiled and stood. He gestured to a pair of Aurors, who undid the chains securing her to her chair. As she got to her feet, her man held out a hand and said "Good to have you back, Miss Weasley. Always brightens the day to find a missing person alive and well."

Rose gladly shook the man's hand, relieved to be back amongst friendly ranks. She was handed her knife and her stolen wand.

The interrogator then turned his attention to Harry "And just who might you be?"

Rose had rather hoped that Harry would be recognised for who he was, but now that she looked at him, with his glasses missing, his hair long and land and his face unshaven, he looked very much unlike what Harry Potter should look like.

He also looked thoroughly disgruntled, and when he spoke he very much sounded it.

"Might I possibly have my glasses back so I can at least see who it is I am talking to?"

The interrogator nodded to one of the Aurors who took Harry's glasses from his pocket and put them on Harry's face. That one of the lenses was cracked did nothing to improve Harry's mood. No attempt to repair the lens was made, however, as when the Auror had pushed the pair of glasses onto Harry's face, he had moved some of Harry's long hair away from his eyes and in doing so the Auror had also uncovered the trademark lightning bolt shaped scar that resided on Harry's forehead.

The Auror sprang back as though electrocuted "Merlin's beard! Harry Potter."

Rose would have been delighted with the man's recognition of Harry, as it should have meant getting the situation cleared up a lot sooner. However the man's tone of voice, the apparent fear that it contained was certainly cause for concern. That every other Auror in the room had drawn his or her wand and now had it aimed on Harry was also troubling.

The Wizard who had questioned Rose moved forward and reached for Harry's forehead. He hooked a finger through Harry's unwashed locks and moved them away to reveal the scar for himself to see.

With a frown he stepped back and announced "Harry Potter, you are hereby under arrest on suspicion of aiding in the murder of former Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards, Albus Dumbledore."

"What?" Rose half asked, half demanded, unable to keep an indignant squeak out of her voice "That's preposterous."

Harry's eyes, meanwhile, only narrowed further "You mean that you actually believe the propaganda espoused by Voldemort and his followers? Well, it's no wonder it has taken you people twenty years to get here."

That, clearly, was the wrong thing to have said. Before she could protest, Rose found herself escorted from the tent and the interrogation of Harry Potter began in earnest.

* * *

Two whole days had passed, and Rose had seen neither hide nor hair of Harry. She presumed that he was still being kept in the same tent, but couldn't say for sure. He could have been moved to another area when she was taken to gather everything up at their campsite. People seemed to be going out of their way to make her feel welcome, but for some reason or other, the fact that Harry was still being held prisoner was not doing much to ease her discomfort.

From conversations that she had overheard, she knew that Harry was steadfastly refusing to answer any questions. Rose wondered what questions they were asking him; she had a feeling that further accusations of him being involved in the murder of Albus Dumbledore would do nothing to persuade him to talk with them; about that subject or any other.

In the time that she had been within the camp, she had learnt that following the fight they saw, two more groups of Voldemort's followers had arrived at that same point, and each time another fight had ensued. Since then, however, none of Voldemort's followers came via that route. Given that all other routes into the castle were now being watched as well, it was being assumed that Voldemort now had all his surviving forces with him inside the castle's stone walls.

The door to the small tent that Rose had been staying in was opened and a Canadian Auror asked her to accompany him.

"Where?" she asked.

"Your friend is being interrogated again, Miss." replied the Auror "It's hoped that he might talk to you."

Rose allowed herself to be left across the camp ground to the same tent in which she had been questioned upon her arrival. The Auror did not enter; instead he merely pulled the entrance to the tent open and beckoned her inside.

Inside the tent, Rose found the walls to be lined with Aurors from the US, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina and a few other countries. Along the back wall were a few of the higher ranking Aurors from each country, including the one who had interrogated Rose herself. She had since learned that his name was Samuel J. Stevenson. With the higher ranking Aurors were several other people. Rose recognised one as the US Minister for Magic, and next to him stood the Canadian Minister. This led her to assume that the rest were the Ministers from the other countries, and a few other important officials.

In the centre of the room, still chained to his chair was Harry. He looked even grubbier than before, and looked thinner somehow, and more tired. Rose guessed that they were hoping that a combination of hunger and sleep deprivation would break him.

There was a seat situated opposite Harry. No one told her to take that seat, but Rose correctly guessed that that was where they wanted her. As she sat, she noted with disappointment that the right lens of his glasses still hadn't been mended. Her view of his right eye might have been skewered, but looking into the left one told her that the hunger and lack of sleep were not producing the results the people around her were hoping for. That did not surprise her in the slightest. She knew enough about Harry now to know that the past two decades of his life had been one long exercise in sleep deprivation and starvation. Hell, he was probably used to such things long before his long-winded camping trip.

In the back of her mind, Rose wondered just what the governments and security personnel of the muggle sides of the countries represented around her would make of the actions of their magical counterparts.

She rather hoped that they would not approve of Harry's treatment

Coming to the sudden realisation that she had been doing nothing by stare at Harry for a good few minutes, Rose shook off her thoughts and addressed her friend.

"So Harry, care to tell me why you aren't talking to these nice men and women?"

Harry said nothing in response; he just narrowed his eyes at her.

An uncomfortable shiver ran down her spine at that look. It was almost as if he hated her.

Deciding to ignore it Rose pressed on "Harry? Talk to me. Why aren't you answering their questions?"

Finally Harry opened his mouth and spoke a reply.

"I have yet to hear a question worth dignifying by responding to it."

"Okay," said Rose shifting uncomfortably in her seat "And why do you think that their questions aren't worth answering?"

"Because the very fact that they are asking them proves that they believe Voldemort's lies. They're no better than everyone else."

Deciding to see if a playful approach might break through Harry's angry exterior, she said sweetly "I hope that you are not including me that "everyone else" remark."

It didn't work. In fact Harry seemed to become even angrier.

"You are especially included in that remark." he retorted, a tone of pure venom in his voice.

Just as she was wondering what she could possibly have done to warrant such a thing, Stevenson and an Auror stepped forward, the Auror carrying what appeared to be a box with a cloth draped over it.

"Miss Weasley," said Stevenson "Your friend here is being most uncooperative, but we would hoping that you would tell us just what these are."

With that he pulled the cloth away, revealing the box beneath. Rose's heart skipped a beat, and suddenly she knew what she had done.

Or at least appeared to have done in Harry's eyes.

The box was opened to reveal the locket of Salazar Slytherin and the cup of Helga Hufflepuff contained within.

Rose opened her mouth to try and say something, anything in reply, but no words came to her.

Obviously one of the Aurors who had accompanied her to the tent must have found them and hidden them before she could notice.

Shut inside this tent, however, it looked to Harry as though Rose had handed the Horcruxes over. And thanks in no small part to their more than slight hold over him, in his eyes, she had betrayed him.

Just like her mother and father before her.

After five minutes of her saying nothing, Stevenson order for her to be escorted from the tent. As she was leaving, Rose heard him say "These are dark artefacts Mr Potter and you are wanted for the death of a great wizard. We will get answers from you, one way or another. We have veritaserum brewing as we speak, but first we'll see what a little solitary confinement will do for you."

Rose could have told them that Harry Potter was very much used to being alone, but decided to save her breath. If she said anything and they then decided on using something worse to get information from Harry, then that would only make things worse between her and Harry.

The Ministries and their Aurors wanted answers out of Harry, answers to questions that to be honest were not all that unreasonable. The problem was that Harry had a stubborn side, a side not at all eased by the influence of the Horcruxes had on him. By trying to force answers out of him, just like the British Ministry of Magic before them, the Wizards wanting answers were just making the situation worse.

And now Harry thought that Rose had betrayed him.

She entered her tent, sank down onto the bed, buried her face in her hands and began to cry.

She had hoped that finding allies would help ease their problems, but everything now seemed to be conspiring to make their problems much worse.

She now hoped that, should the Australian forces ever arrive, that her mother would be amongst the healers that they brought with them. She so desperately wanted to put everything right, but had no idea how to do so. A talk with her mother had always helped sort out major problems in the past, and she would give anything just to be able to have one of those talks now.

Little did she know that at that very moment the Australian Aurors were leaving Germany to join those in Britain. Unfortunately, however, she would find no help there.

The rumours of Harry's involvement in the death of Albus Dumbledore had begun long before the rest of the world had truly realised that Voldemort had taken over in Britain. As far as they were aware, Harry really was implicated in Dumbledore's murder. The fact that he had been missing for twenty years compounded the matter further.

Harry truly was a suspect, and until Rose or anyone else could prove otherwise, once and for all, then the future was not looking good.

* * *

**A/N: Now before anyone bites my head off with regards to this portrayal of wizards from the Americas, I would just like to point out that the belief that Harry might have been the one to kill Dumbledore is a global view; people in Australia believe it (as hinted at near the end of the chapter), people in China believe it, people in India believe it, people in Russia, Japan, Egypt, South Africa, those who survived Voldemort's takeover of Europe, they all believe it. It just so happens that the Americans were the first ones to find Harry and be able to question him about it, but not in a way that will get answers from a stubborn, Horcrux addled Harry. Also I hasten to point out that this chapter clearly distinguishes that these Americans are Wizards! Not Muggles! So please, no rants a la Chapter Nineteen of "Forgotten Brother."**

**Oh, and for those of you wondering, "Ooline" is a common name for **_**Cadellia pentastylis**_**, a tree native to Australia (where Rose grew up in this story) and a Gunni is a cryptid creature from Australia, most likely a hoax, that is said to be a Wombat with antlers, much like how a Jackalope is meant to be a rabbit with antlers.**


	12. A Friendly Face

**A/N: Some people completely ignored the note at the end of the last chapter. I really want to have a go at them, as they hid behind guest reviews, but I can't be arsed to make the same points that I have made in other my other story. I doubt that these people would have uttered a peep had Australia been the first people Harry and Rose encountered.**

**Anyway, on with the story, in which a familiar face returns…**

* * *

**A Darkened World**

A Friendly Face

Rose lay stretched out on the camp bed in the tent that had been graciously given to her. It was now five days since she and Harry had arrived in the camp. Harry was still being held prisoner, or at least he was as far as Rose knew; she had seen neither hide nor hair of him for three days. A few hours after she had last left the tent in which Harry was being held, Aurors from Australia, along with representatives from their Ministry, including the Australian Minister of Magic had arrived en masse at the edge of the camp and, after the necessary checks were made, they had moved to integrate.

What with her being an Australian citizen, Rose, naturally, was taken to a meeting with the Australian Minister and a few other higher ups from the Ministry of her country of birth.

* * *

_Flashback_

_Rose entered the tent and was greeted by the smiling face of Joseph Fraser, the Minister for Magic of Australia._

"_Miss Weasley," he exclaimed upon her entrance "Wonderful to see you again, simply wonderful."_

_Rose was confused by a part of that statement; "_wonderful to see you again?"_ when the hell had he ever seen her? She certainly could not remember ever meeting him in person before now. Deciding that to he probably meant "_wonderful to find that you are alive_" Rose gave a smile, a nod and said "Thank you."_

_She was then led over to a seat and then questioned extensively. She was asked to tell the tale of her escape from the scene of the botched raid on the prison, how she had met Harry and what they had been doing since. Rose had felt a lot more comfortable talking with these people than with any of the Americans, be they from the US, Canada, Brazil, Argentina or any other country. The accents she was hearing now were familiar, along with the expressions, and the body postures, everything was far more familiar than her previous interrogators._

_In fact she felt comfortable enough to discuss their capture by Death Eaters and their subsequent escape from and destruction of the British Ministry building. The story was treated as greatly welcomed news;_

"_Even when officially classed as a missing person, you still perform your assigned tasks well." Fraser had complimented her._

_Rose smiled at that, but could not take all the credit "Well, Harry was actually the one who did the most. He engineered our escape; I was more of a second wand."_

_At that Fraser's face had taken on a more grim tone "Yes, well seeing as we are on the subject of young Mr Potter…"_

_Rose grimaced; she should have seen this coming._

_The Australian Minister continued "He is being most uncooperative. He simply refuses answer any and all questions asked of him."_

"_Perhaps you should ask questions that he doesn't mind answering." replied Rose "Arresting him based upon the propaganda that was put about by Lord Voldemort over twenty years ago when this war really began was just about the worst thing you could do in order to get some answers out of him. He is a stubborn person so trying to then force the issue will only make him dig his heels in more."_

"_And why would he go to such measures to keep his secrets if he has nothing to hide?"_

"_He has plenty to hide from those he thinks unworthy of trust. The worse you treat him, the less worthy of trust you become in his eyes." Rose was angry now, her fists were clenched in her lap, with her knuckles turning white "Harry Potter learned long ago to not trust figures in authority; they abuse it too much."_

_End Flashback_

* * *

The meeting had ended soon after that, before the subject of the Horcruxes could be raised. No one had tried to question Rose since. No one had really spoken to Rose since, well… no one in authority, anyway.

Why couldn't these people just admit that they were wrong about the way that they were dealing with Harry? Surely they could see for themselves that the more they pushed him the more he dug his heels in. Was it too much to ask that they treat Harry in a civilised way? If they had just asked Harry to help them clarify the events surrounding Dumbledore's death and admitted that they had a hazy at best account of the events of that night, Harry would more than likely have cooperated fully in order to clear things up.

In fact, Rose knew he would have. Had they just let things be, had they just been civilised, had they just left those damn Horcruxes alone, then they would probably have had all their answers by now, plus a lot more information besides.

Hell, they could probably be planning how to get Harry into the castle by know, so that he could get to and destroy the final Horcruxes.

They might even have done it already.

The trouble was, people involved in government were too "big picture" and when that occurred, you tended to stop seeing people as individuals. To them, Harry was just another person being defiant, rather than as someone with genuine reasons for not trusting them. To them, their treatment of Harry was acceptable because "the needs of the many outweighed the needs of the few, or the one."

Too bad they could not see that disregarding Harry's needs was in fact being detrimental to the needs of the many.

Rose sighed and rolled over onto her side in her bed. This was not how this was supposed to go. Finding other people with the same goal of bringing down Lord Voldemort was supposed to signal the beginning of the end. Instead she found that things were getting rapidly worse, if not for her then most certainly for Harry.

Since her interview with the Australian Minister, people from Japan, China, New Zealand and many other countries had arrived. None of them had questioned her, and there did not seem to have been any protesting about Harry's current predicament.

Rose had wondered several times if she ought to just go over and tell them exactly what the Horcruxes were, but she hadn't done so yet. Mostly it was out of fear as to how they would react; if they found out that Harry had been living in close proximity to pieces of Lord Voldemort's soul for twenty years, they'd likely subject him to worse treatment as they tried to ascertain just how much damage the Horcruxes had done to him. She didn't like to admit it, but she often thought that Harry's mind had been damaged in some way by his prolonged exposure to the two Horcruxes; she dreaded what the results of a medical scan on Harry would be. Suppose they decided he was a risk? The magical world were not exactly known for taking good care of people with mental health issues; Harry would either be dumped into a hospital bed and confined there until his dying day, or, if he was deemed too much of a risk, they would probably just kill him in order to have done with it.

The simple fact was that Harry needed to talk, the leaders of the war against Voldemort would force him to talk if they had to, and Rose knew that forcing the issue would just make Harry's attitude worse.

What Rose needed was an ally; someone who knew Harry well enough to know how to talk to him.

What she needed, she thought, was her mother; though a version of her mother that hadn't turned her back on Harry twenty years ago.

Little did she know, help had just arrived on the edge of the camp.

* * *

The three newly arrived battalions of Indian Aurors were meeting with their superiors and a few similarly ranking officials from other countries, being appraised of the situation.

"…believe he has drawn all of his forces behind the castle walls" Samuel Stevenson, Head Auror of the US Wizarding Society was saying "and we have specially trained ward-breakers and curse-breakers working on bringing down the wards surrounding the castle as we speak. We killed the last few groups of Dark Wizards and Creatures to try and enter the castle. Unfortunately they were so hostile that we were unable to obtain any for questioning. We have, however, located and arrested Harry Potter for questioning regarding the death of Albus Dumbledore-"

He was cut off by an indignant shout of "What?"

This caught him completely off guard. So far no one had shown the slightest bit of annoyance at their arrest of Potter, in fact everyone seemed to approve. This Auror, apparently, did not.

"Auror, step forward." he ordered.

A woman stepped out of rank. She was in her late thirties, nearly forty in fact, and bore all the signs of having fought a long and hard war; clearly she was a veteran of many battles. He recognised her, but could not place a name… "s_omething"_ Shah, he recalled.

"You object to our arrest of Harry Potter?" he asked her.

"I do." Shah replied "Harry Potter had nothing to do with the death of Albus Dumbledore. The killer was Severus Snape."

"What proof is there of that? It is well established by reports that-" he was interrupted by the Auror again.

"Those reports were nothing but propaganda put about by Voldemort's regime. It was the perfect was to turn people against Harry Potter."

"And how do you know that?"

"Because I went to Hogwarts School. I was a student there the night that Dumbledore was killed. Half the school witnessed Snape fleeing the scene with half a dozen others. Harry confronted them outside the Gamekeeper's cabin. He attempted to stop them from leaving and nearly lost his life in the process."

It was the Canadian Head Auror who stepped forward to speak "Mr Potter is refusing to answer our questions. As you seem to know him, perhaps you could ask him a few things on our behalf."

The witch stared at him with a considering look for a long moment before giving a nod of her head "Alright, I will. Though it might take a while, depending on how ill-tempered he is."

* * *

Rose had just stepped outside of her tent in order to get some fresh air when a group of people walked by. More important, however, was the shiver that went down her spine as they passed her. She knew of only one thing that could cause a shiver like that, and that meant that those people had the Horcruxes, or at least one of them.

Rose watched as the group make their way over to the tent she assumed Harry was still inside. It seemed like they were going to attempt to question him again.

Interestingly only one person went inside this time; an Indian woman, who looked around forty. Rose got the distinct feeling that she had seen her face somewhere before.

* * *

Harry was starving, cold, uncomfortable and downright miserable, but he wasn't about to let that break him; he had been in worse situations before now.

It had been two days since his last interrogation, and figured that they were trying to let solitude wear him down, though again that was something he was used to.

He heard the tent flap open and someone come in, but he didn't look up. He supposed that they had found themselves incapable of waiting for answers any longer. Well they'd be disappointed.

"Well, well. Harry Potter; aren't you a sight for sore eyes? Or should that be, aren't you a sore sight?"

Harry started slightly. He knew that voice, though it was more like a very distant memory now. He raised his head to look up at the witch who now stood before him, and his mouth fell open in surprise "Padma?" he asked "Padma Patil?"

She smiled at him and said "Actually it's Shah now; Padma Shah." her face fell slightly "Or at least it was until my husband died about a year ago."

Harry had no idea what to say to that, other than "Sorry to hear that."

Padma gave a kind-of resigned shrug and said "I'm kind of used to death by now anyway."

She took a seat opposite him and said "So, Harry, how come you're refusing to answer the questions that your interrogators ask of you?"

Harry's eyes darkened "If you're here for them-"

Padma cut him off "Not so much. I am well aware that you had nothing to do with Dumbledore's death; it's everyone else who needs convincing of that fact. What I really want to know is where you have been, what you have been up to, and what these are."

With that she opened a bag that she had brought in with her and took out the familiar wooden box, which she opened to reveal the contents; the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff and the Locket of Salazar Slytherin.

Padma most certainly did not miss the look that came into Harry's eyes; a combination of desire, anger and fear.

After a full minute, Harry tore his eyes away from the Horcruxes and looked directly into Padma's eyes "I only tell those I trust enough with their secret."

Padma closed the box and tucked it under her seat "Harry, in the months before her capture by the Death Eaters, I befriended Luna Lovegood; I took her under my wing, as it were, to make sure that the bullies would leave her alone. She told me that Dumbledore left you a mission of some kind. What that mission was she never said, and I don't think that she knew, but it is obvious now that it involves these two items in some way. It is also obvious that the intended end result is Voldemort's downfall. And it is especially obvious that you cannot do this task on your own."

Harry remained silent, and the expression on his face was unreadable; it had become that way the moment that she had mentioned Luna Lovegood by name.

She had hoped that it would. Not only had she been Luna's friend, she had also been a study partner with Hermione Granger, starting near the end of their fourth year at Hogwarts. One thing both girls had told her was how Harry needed to be handled; make good and rational arguments to take the wind out of his sails, so to speak, until he would listen. Both girls had acknowledged that at times this did not work, but it had a good success rate, and that was good enough for Padma to make use of it now.

It was a little bit like she was channelling both of her old friends.

It was time to press her advantage.

"I know you need help, Harry. And I want to help you, but you have to let me."

She could see he was still unconvinced.

"Harry, I was part of the D.A at Hogwarts. I fought in the desperate battle against the Death Eaters that took place there, doing my best to help younger students flee. I lost my twin sister in that battle. And I lost a fair few friends. Since then I worked hard to get the world to take notice, and as soon as they came to their senses, I was right there on the frontline of battle and have been there ever since. In that time I have lost both of my parents, my older brother, my husband, both my daughters and my son. Does that not entitle me to hear some truths from you?"

Harry watched her for a long while after her speech. And then he spoke, telling her the truth… well, most of it.

"Those two items are Horcruxes; vessels that contain fragments of Voldemort's soul. The task that Dumbledore assigned me was to find and destroy them all. Two are already destroyed, I have two, and two others are inside Hogwarts castle. One of those is the Diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, which is stored in the Room of Hidden Things, one of the rooms made available by the Room of Requirement. The other is Voldemort's pet snake, which remains by his side as much as possible, though usually not in battle. Along with the part of it that still exists within his living body, Voldemort has seven soul fragments, or he did. To destroy the remaining Horcruxes, I need the Sword of Gryffindor, which I am assuming is somewhere on the inside of Hogwarts castle as well. Until all four remaining Horcruxes are destroyed, then Voldemort can never truly die. Should we destroy his body again, he will very likely just create another using the same method as before."

"So the long and short of it is that you need to get into Hogwarts." surmised Padma.

"And I have been waiting for twenty years to do so." replied Harry "The castle and its grounds are heavily guarded. Without something to draw the guard from the castle, I had no hope of infiltrating it. If I tried to do so and got captured, then Voldemort would be able to reclaim the two Horcruxes I had, and no one else would know about them, so he would never die."

Padma stood from her seat and held out her hand to him "Well then, Mr Potter, I believe it is high time that we see to it that you get into that castle."

Harry gazed at her outstretched hand for a moment, and then reached out and took it as Padma used her wand to undo the bindings that kept him tied to the chair he had occupied for several long days.

* * *

Rose had made her way over to the tent where Harry was being held, hoping to get some kind of inclination as to what was going on. However, no one spoke to her, and no one even acknowledged her presence.

After what seemed like an age, the entrance to the tent opened and the Indian witch she had seen entering earlier came out, a tired and starved looking Harry following on behind her. The witch said something to a couple of the guards and they each nodded before accompanying both the witch and Harry towards the large tent a short distance away that Rose knew was where those in charge of the war effort met and made their plans.

As they group passed by her, Harry did not even so much as glance in her direction, something that resulted in her feeling rather hollow inside.

* * *

**A/N: So how was that? I hope you enjoyed it. Don't worry, Rose isn't out of things yet, and although he is willing to work with Padma, Harry is more than capable of holding his grudge against everyone else.**

**I have pretty much figured out this story in its entirety right to the end now and there should now be between four and six chapters to go, depending on how things work out.**


	13. The Final Plan

**A/N: Not much Rose in this chapter, but a whole lot of remembering.**

* * *

**A Darkened World**

The Final Plan

As they made their way around the side of the mountain, what little that remained of the once proud Hogsmeade village came into view.

"So this is the great Hogsmeade Village, is it?" asked one of the wizards, a Canadian by the name of Varley.

"Well, what's left of it." answered Padma Patil, who was leading the group. She turned her head to the wizard standing next to her "You alright Harry?"

Harry tore his eyes away from the ruined village before him to look at Padma. He said nothing, but after a long moment he just shook his head and turned away before saying "Let's just get this over with."

With that he and Padma took the lead, guiding their five companions towards the ruins, and what remained of the Hogs Head Inn.

Those in authority hadn't taken too kindly to Padma just letting Harry out of his prison without first consulting them. Their objections had only gotten more vehement when Padma informed them that it was in the best interests of everyone for them all to drop the desired questioning of Harry about Dumbledore's death, as such a thing was divisive and was only wasting time.

"But we must know the truth." protested the Mexican Minister.

"It will take another two weeks for you to brew the truth serum you require to question me to the extent that will satisfy you," answered Harry "And when you question me under truth serum, you realise that I have been telling the truth all along and you will realise that you have wasted those two weeks. Now, I don't know about you, but I rather think that getting this damn war over with is the far more important issue at the moment. Of course, if you'd rather take the "wait and see" approach, then I fully understand. It seems to be the chosen _modus operandi _of wizards, after all."

Finally they all agreed on ending the war sooner, and Harry, with prompting from Padma, told them all of what he had told her; of the existence of the Horcruxes, of the ways to destroy them, of the task that had been handed to him by Dumbledore, along with the reasons why he now needed to enter Hogwarts Castle.

Their reactions to this had been predictable; if he had known twenty years ago about the Horcruxes, why had he yet to enter the castle. Harry offered up the simple explanation "If I went in and got caught, there would be no one left who knew of the existence of the Horcruxes, and therefore Voldemort would never die."

Harry had then revealed something that he had not told to Padma in their meeting; the Prophecy.

"_The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord approaches. … Born to those who have thrice defied him, born as the seventh month dies … and the Dark Lord will mark him as his equal, but he will have power the Dark Lord knows not … and either must die at the hand of the other for neither can live while the other survives. … The one with the power to vanquish the Dark Lord will be born as the seventh month dies…_"

Harry had watched them for their reactions, and many did not seem to get it, so he had explained "My parents defied Voldemort three times before their deaths by his hand. I was born at the end of July." He raised a hand and pulled his long, lank, unwashed hair back from his forehead, revealing the familiar scar that was shaped like a lightning bolt "And Voldemort left me with this mark when he failed to kill me. Voldemort make me the only one who could vanquish him."

They understood them, and were not willing to set aside their questions about Dumbledore's death.

"What do you need from us?" asked the Canadian Minister.

"I need to get into Hogwarts and find the remaining Horcruxes, as well as the ability to destroy them. I have no chance of completing that task with the castle filled with so many of Voldemort's followers."

"You wish for a diversion." said the Russian Minister, and it was a statement, not a question "You wish for us to draw out the dark forces, draw their attention fully onto us so that you may infiltrate behind enemy lines."

Harry gave one short nod of confirmation.

"That would be a suicide mission." stated the United States Minister.

"If anyone has a better idea then by all means share it." said Padma.

No one offered up any other solution to their problems.

Finally it was the Australian Minister who broke the silence "You should take some others with you at the very least. We might be able to draw the attention of the forces of darkness onto ourselves, but not every eye will be blind; some are bound to remain behind to keep watch."

"True," replied Harry "and so I will consent to take six others with me. That will give us the magically powerful total number of seven; the same as the number of pieces of soul Tom had."

"I will go." said Padma, volunteering herself "Harry will represent himself, I shall represent India. Perhaps other countries should grant one of their warriors to our mission. We have all stood against Voldemort for a long time; it would be fitting."

Eventually the five others were decided upon. Although each country had offered up a choice of fighters, in the end Harry had chosen one Canadian wizard, one Russian wizard, one Japanese witch, one Kenyan wizard and one Argentinian witch to accompany himself and Padma.

Once all agreements had been made, Harry was shown to a tent to take some food and rest. Once he was gone, Padma had asked that there be a backup team put in place. Seeing as she knew so much about the task assigned Harry, Rose was called in to represent Australia. She would be joined by Stevenson, the man who had questioned her and Harry when they had first arrived in the camp. He would represent the United States. Joining them would be a wizard from Mexico, a wizard from Egypt, a witch from Brazil, a witch from China and a witch who was one of few who had escaped France when Voldemort had taken it for his own.

All of the witches and wizards selected were very able duellers and each could easily hold their own in battle against multiple foes at once. The second group would allow Harry and Padma's group a ten minute head start before following them into the castle.

Harry had been informed of this second group and agreed on the necessity of it; after all every good plan ought to have backup plans and insurance policies.

What was kept from Harry was that Rose was in the second group. As they made their way down to the remains of Hogsmeade village, Padma sent a sideways glance towards Harry, wondering what his reaction to that news would be. It was obvious that, despite their falling out, Harry did still care about Rose on some level. And despite everything, Padma was sure that Harry would not allow Rose to come on the mission if he knew. Not because he didn't feel he could trust her, but because he wouldn't want her in harm's way.

Padma knew that this was because Rose was _Hermione's_ daughter. Padma didn't have the full story yet, but she knew that something had occurred to drive a wedge between the golden trio of friends that had been Harry Potter, Ronald Weasley and Hermione Granger. She suspected Weasley. How Rose factored into this she wasn't entirely sure, though given that she looked so much like Hermione and yet had the last name of Weasley, she could take a guess. And Rose was the physical embodiment of both of Harry Potter's one-time closest companions; his once best friend, and the young woman who he, probably unknowingly, loved.

Suddenly she was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of spell-fire and explosions coming from a distance away. The battle had started; they needed to get a move on.

* * *

The wards around Hogwarts Castle fell, brought down by the efforts of a hundred curse breakers. They apparated out back to their camp as two hundred and fifty wizards and witches changed their bodies into plumes of smoke and soared overhead. Some scattered to blast apart the ramparts and battlements, killing any foe they found, but the majority made for the front entrance, clearing the main Viaduct of foes, flattening the structures of the Entrance Courtyard and blowing apart the Entrance Hall before bringing the roof of the Great Hall down upon the heads of those within.

As Voldemort's servants and followers swarmed from the castle in order to retaliate, the attackers went into a retreat.

As a great number of Death Eaters and Werewolves ran across the Covered Bridge in order to attempt to join the battle from a different angle, ten of the attackers swooped down and blasted the bridge apart, bringing it down and crushing those crossing it.

As one straggler made his retreat, he was hit with a spell that caused him searing pain. He came crashing to the ground and gazed around, bleary eyed. He immediately noticed that both of his legs were gone. As the blood gushed from his body and his vision faded, he saw the whole dark host leaving the castle; some charging on foot, others swooping overhead.

As he died, his last thought was "_They've taken the bait Harry Potter; it's up to you now_."

* * *

Inside the Hogs Head, or what remained of it, Padma let the group through the rubble as she searched for her target. Stepping over a skeleton, Harry wondered if perhaps it belonged to the owner of the pub, a man he now believed to have been Albus Dumbledore's younger brother, Aberforth.

Pushing that thought aside, disregarding it as insignificant, Harry followed Padma into another room. It was in that room that Padma had found what she had been looking for; a portrait.

The was old; stained through water damage and had grime coating the edges, but the image it held was still visible; a stone arch, covered with ivy, through which a grassy lawn could be seen, with a line of trees in the distance.

That was it.

Harry was sure that the portrait had been nice enough back before it was damaged, but he couldn't see how this would help them get into the school.

Padma stepped closer to it and muttered "Where are you Ariana?"

Harry was certain he had heard that name somewhere before, and knew it somehow related to the Dumbledore family, but he couldn't quite place just how. It had been years since he had bothered himself with reading about Albus Dumbledore's sordid past in that book by Rita Skeeter.

Padma spoke again "Ariana, are you there?"

This time something happened; barely half a face of a girl in her early teens moved to peer out at them from behind the right side of the stone arch. She eyed them very cautiously.

"Ariana, I'm Padma Patil. Do you remember me?" Padma asked, and Harry noted her use of her maiden name in this instance "Your brother Aberforth used to supply myself and some others with food and drink, do you remember?"

The girl in the portrait nodded and stepped out completely from behind the pillar.

"Ariana, we have a great need to get into the castle." Padma explained "We want to destroy the man who has dealt out so much death and destruction over the years; to do that we need to get inside the castle. Will you allow us passage?"

The girl's eyes drifted over the group that stood behind Padma, and they only came to a stop when the fell on Harry. Then they moved on, instead looking over Harry's left shoulder. When her gaze didn't break, Harry turned to see what she was looking at. Seeing only a wall there, he wondered what she could see that he could not. Then it occurred to him; she was looking in the general direction of the skeleton he had stepped over.

And it clicked; if the owner of this pub had been Albus Dumbledore's brother Aberforth, then this Ariana was their sister, the one who had died young under hazy circumstances. And it was almost as if she knew where the last member of her family had fallen.

He turned back towards the portrait to see that Ariana was watching him intently.

Finally she gave a nod and the portrait swung forwards to reveal a long dark tunnel.

Padma led the way inside, with Harry following on immediately behind her.

"This tunnel opened up shortly after a load of us retreated to the Room of Requirements for safety. We needed food and water so two doorways opened up; one to the Hogs Head and one to the Hogwarts kitchens.

"When the battle began, we used it as an escape route. The Death Eaters seemed to know every other route out of the castle except this one. We got the younger years out first, of course, but many of the older students stayed to fight. The last of us left alive sealed the door to the room and then retreated along this passage. When we got to the other end we found the pub being ransacked. I took great pleasure in skewering that Half Troll Millicent Bulstrode on a conjured wooden pole before making my escape with an injured fifth year student."

Harry snorted "And the great Albus Dumbledore always insisted that those snakes could be redeemed."

"Actually some of them did join our side in the final fight." said Padma "Tracey Davis saw a Death Eater holding Professor Sinistra under the torture curse, and made a nice new hole in his head for him before taking out Pansy Parkinson's father. She made it out that night, but we lost her when France was taken. Then there was a sixth year, Jeffery Harper. He rallied a couple of his mates together and took on a couple of Death Eaters so some of the younger Slytherins could get out. He and his friends all paid the ultimate price for that. And then there was Daphne Greengrass. She knew some basic healing and was assisting Madam Pomfrey as best she could. In the end she took a killing curse from Bellatrix Lestrange in an attempt to save the matron, not that such a thing did any good, Bellatrix just fired another killing curse."

Harry nodded thoughtfully. Now that he thought about it, he did vaguely recall a sight of a blonde-haired young woman throwing herself between Bellatrix and Madam Pomfrey. Harry had always assumed that it was a Ravenclaw he didn't know, but recalling the memory now, he supposed her robes did appear to be green lined rather than blue.

Padma went on "Some say that the Greengrass family was punished heavily for Daphne's betrayal of the pure-blood ideals. Most of the family was wiped out, but current evidence suggests that Daphne's younger sister Astoria was forced to provide Draco Malfoy an heir before being killed."

They came to a door "Here we are." said Padma, reaching out and pushing it open.

The room beyond was covered in a thick layer of dust and dirt, but was still as she remembered it.

The banners of three of the four houses still hung proudly upon the walls. Hammocks and camp beds were still set up ready for people to sleep in them, and all around trunks stood around, as though patiently awaiting the return of their owners.

She heard an intake of breath and she turned to see where it had come from.

It had come from Harry, who was several feet from her, and was staring at something on the ground. Slowly he stooped down and picked it up.

"Luna." he said, his voice barely more than a whisper as he stood up straight again.

Clutched in his hand was the string necklace decorated with corks from butter beer bottles that was so familiar to anyone with even a passing knowledge of Luna Lovegood.

Padma and the others stood completely still as Harry slowly began to make his way around the room.

He paid no heed to them; instead he kept his eyes open for any signs of his old friends. Next he found Luna's radish-shaped earrings, followed by a small glass sphere that he quickly identified as Neville Longbottom's rememberall. Nearby was a book, the one the Barty Crouch Jr. had given Neville back in their fourth year: _Magical Mediterranean Water-Plants and Their Properties._ Next he came across a green jumper that bore the logo of Ireland's national Quidditch Team. It had belonged to Seamus.

There was a hair band and a pair of shoes that immediately reminded him of Lavender Brown; a collection of bangles and a necklace that he remembered Padma's twin sister Parvati wearing when she had accompanied Harry to the Yule Ball in their fourth year at Hogwarts; a pair of glasses exactly like those Terry Boot used to wear; a watch that he remembered Anthony Goldstein telling a couple of others about during one D.A. meeting. It was a present for his sixteenth birthday, if Harry remembered correctly. There was a pair of earmuffs that he remembered Susan Bones wearing in the very first (although then unofficial) meeting of the D.A in the Hogs Head pub.

The more he looked, the more he saw, and the more he saw the more he remembered. He remembered names. He remembered faces. He remembered stories, laughter, friendship, loyalty… he remembered love.

And he felt something inside of his break in that moment. He had never realised just how much so many of these people had meant to him, and now that he had realised it, they were gone.

On the far wall, a piece of parchment hung. He approached it and took it down. The ink on it had faded with time, but what was written upon it was still clear.

_Dumbledore's Army._

_Founders: Harry Potter Ronald Weasley Hermione Granger_

_Leader: Harry Potter._

_Second Leader: Neville Longbottom._

_Members:_

_Harry Potter_

_Hermione Granger_

_Ronald Weasley_

_Ginevra Weasley_

_Neville Longbottom_

_Luna Lovegood_

_Fred Weasley_

_George Weasley_

_Cho Chang_

_Dean Thomas_

_Hannah Abbott_

_Susan Bones_

_Colin Creevey_

_Dennis Creevey_

_Lavender Brown_

_Parvati Patil_

_Padma Patil_

_Seamus Finnigan_

_Ernest Macmillan_

_Justin Finch-Fletchley_

_Angelina Johnson_

_Alicia Spinnet_

_Kathryn Bell_

_Anthony Goldstein_

_Terrence Boot_

_Michael Corner_

_Cormac McLaggen_

_Leanne Simmonds_

_Romilda Vane_

_Nigel Wolpert_

_Luca Caruso_

_Alice Tolipan_

_Fay Dunbar_

_Ritchie Coote_

_Jimmy Peakes_

_Lisa Turpin_

_Megan Jones…_

The list of names seemed to go on and on; far longer than the original number it had originally contained during Harry's fifth year at Hogwarts. He noticed that Zacharias Smith was no longer on the list. Nor, for that matter was Marietta Edgecombe. Also notable in their absence were the names of the various muggle born students who hadn't joined the first time around and had been forced into hiding or arrested and killed by the time Neville resurrected the D.A. in his seventh year. Their names came to Harry in a wave: Sally-Anne Perks, Lilith Moon, Wayne Hopkins, Stephen Cornfoot, Emma Dobbs, Stuart Ackerly, Laura Madley, Kevin Whitby…

All were gone now; some had hidden themselves away, afraid to fight; some wanted to fight but were too damaged to do so anymore.

Most were dead.

Dead, because the Ministry was so corrupt.

Dead, because Albus Dumbledore had kept so many secrets.

Dead, because Harry Potter had been left all alone and clueless.

Dead, because help had taken so long to come.

A fierce determination suddenly began to bubble violently within Harry.

All these people had died because Voldemort was an evil and no one had been able to check.

Today though, Voldemort would die.

Today Voldemort would meet his match.

Today all those who had died would be avenged.

It would all end today.

* * *

**A/N: So what do you think? This chapter is mostly about reminding Harry about all that has been lost; he has known, but never truly remembered until now, because until now all his memories have been fogged by his own pain.**

**Not enough Rose in this chapter, I know. In fact, she doesn't even appear, only gets mentioned. Her arrival will be important though, and we will see plenty of her in the next chapter.**

**In personal news, I saw The Hobbit on Tuesday evening. Now, I must admit that I, like a lot of people out there, had my doubts when it was announced that Martin Freeman would play the central role of Bilbo Baggins. My doubts, however, were completely unfounded. He was fantastic and so was everyone else. If you haven't gone to see it yet, then what the hell are you waiting for? Get going!**


	14. Snape and Snake

**A/N: Another update so fast? Aren't I good to you?**

* * *

**A Darkened World**

Snape and Snake

The group stood outside the Room of Requirements, six of them watching as the seventh, Harry Potter, paced up and down in front of a wall that had, until moments ago, contained the door that led to the DA headquarters.

On Harry's third pass of the wall, a new door faded into view. Harry opened it and headed off inside. The others followed him.

They found themselves in a room that seemed to stretch on and on forever in every direction. All around them towers of miscellaneous objects stood, dwarfing them all. There were piles of old cauldrons that had been used for making illegal potions, there were stacks of worn and tattered books of questionable material, there were heaps of broken toys and trinkets that were banned from the school. Broken chairs, damaged tables, an ancient wardrobe, a rusted axe coated in dried blood…

"This way." said Harry, leading them deeper into the vast collection of disused, unwanted, abandoned and forgotten items.

Down one aisle the went, and up another, around a corner, and a twist to the left, a right turn, a left turn, straight ahead and around a bend. Then, at last, Harry stopped, his eyes fixed on something ahead of him. They all looked and they all saw it.

The diadem of Rowena Ravenclaw, exquisitely designed, sat upon a bust of an ancient and long forgotten warlock. Harry moved closer and so did Padma. She gazed in awe at the ancient artefact, so beautiful and precious; the oval shaped sapphire embedded within its design reflected the lights from their wands, and upon the top were etched the words _"Wit beyond measure is man's greatest treasure."_

The Ravenclaw within Padma desired to reach out to the diadem and take it, perhaps even wear it; she well knew the legend that said that this item could enhance the wisdom of the wearer.

"It is a strange thing that we have so much to fear from such a treasure…" she muttered, her hand unconsciously reaching out for it.

Harry placed his hand gently upon her arm to stop her.

"And that," he said "is their power."

Padma nodded in understanding and drew her hand back.

Harry reached up and pulled the moke-skin pouch from around his neck. He opened it up and it expanded. Using his wand, he levitated the Diadem from its resting place and carefully lowered it into the pouch.

"Done." he muttered, cancelling the spell and picking up the pouch.

As it began to shrink, something small, golden and shiny fell out of it and onto the table on which the bust sat. It rolled across the surface of the table and dropped onto the floor, where it continued to roll until it came to a stop by Padma's right roof.

She looked down at it in confusion "Is that a snitch?" she asked as Harry stooped down to pick it up.

"It is," Harry replied as he stood again, holding his hand up to examine the small golden ball that he now held between his thumb and forefinger "Something that Dumbledore left me… another of his riddles that never made any sense. To be honest, I had quite forgotten I ever had it until just now…"

He brought the snitch to his mouth and pressed his lips against it. Then he held it out to Padma so that she could read the small inscription that was beginning to appear upon the surface.

"I open at the close." she read before looking at Harry "What's that meant to mean?"

Harry shrugged his shoulders and shoved the golden snitch into his pocket "Dunno. Though I guess it's a trick of Dumbledore's that is meant to kick in right before all this finishes. I could really have done with something to get me to the finish a hell of a lot sooner, but Dumbledore and rational thought never did seem to go together…"

The Argentinian Witch interrupted them "Perhaps we should discuss Dumbledore's eccentricities later. For now we really should find the last of the Horcruxes."

Given that the woman didn't speak a word of English, that Harry and Padma understood her perfectly was proof positive that the translation charms that they had placed upon themselves really did work.

Padma nodded in acknowledgement "You are right. Harry, I trust you know where it is?"

"Usually it is right by Voldemort's side." said Harry "It's his snake, Nagini."

The entire group shifted uneasily at that.

Harry continued "As the snake is rarely apart from Voldemort, the thing to do now would be to focus on the destruction of the three Horcruxes that we already have. For that we need the Sword that once belonged to Godric Gryffindor. Hopefully that item is still contained within the office of the school's headmaster, though there were rumours of it having been stolen."

"The headmaster's office it is then," said Padma, and began to lead the way from the room with Harry by her side.

In the corridor outside the Room of Requirements they were almost immediately set upon by ten Death Eaters. Harry and Padma wasted no time in permanently dispatching of one each before either of the Dark Lord's followers could even think of firing a spell. One of their own group, the Canadian, was struck with a killing curse and dropped to the floor as his Japanese companion avenged him. Harry conjured a metal spear and drove it through the body of one of the Death Eaters before he and Padma took heed of their companions' urging of them to flee.

"Get out of here, complete your task." said the Russian wizard, before blowing a Death Eater's torso apart with a well-aimed explosion spell.

"We'll hold them off here and join you when we can." added the Argentinian Witch as she parted the head of another Death Eater from his shoulders.

Quickly, and as quietly as possible, Harry and Padma seized their chance and ran off along the corridor.

Moments after the pair left, another door appeared in the wall of the Room of Requirements and Rose and her group exited through it. They immediately joined the battle and quickly ended it, though not before the Japanese Witch and the Kenyan Wizard met grizzly ends.

"What took you so long?" demanded the Russian.

"Little bit of trouble with the portrait." explained the Chinese Witch "She did not wish to open to those people whom she did not know."

"Where's Harry?" asked Rose.

"He went on ahead." said the Argentinian Witch "He needed to get to the Headmaster's office."

"Let's go then." said Rose, turning to lead the way.

It wasn't long before more Death Eaters arrived.

They fought valiantly, but four of their number were killed by the enemy.

Rose stood over the body of the fallen Brazilian Witch, sending deadly curses and hexes flying in every direction. Suddenly she was hit by a tripping hex and she went crashing to the ground. A Death Eater loomed over her. He was about the same age as Rose, with a pale complexion, cold grey eyes, a pointed chin and white-blond hair. He crouched over her and stroked a hand tenderly down the side of her face.

"Powerful, fierce and beautiful." he commented "I'm sure that the Dark Lord will allow me to let you live long enough to bear me an heir."

Rose wrinkled her nose in disgust and said "Yeah, I think not." before driving her wand into his ribcage and blasting him away from her. Hurriedly she scrambled to her feet and finished him off, neither knowing nor caring that his name was Scorpius Malfoy.

Elsewhere within the castle, Harry and Padma had gotten reasonably far along before running into any more Death Eaters. With lethal precision they took down a fair few of their opponents before Harry came face to face with a nemesis he had not laid eyes upon since his school days. Unaware of his son's death, Draco Malfoy attacked Harry Potter with everything he had.

Harry, however, knew his foe and the man hadn't changed in the slightest. Arrogance, coupled with delusions of grandeur seemed to run rife in the bloodline of the Malfoy males, and now, just like with school, Draco Malfoy was no match for Harry Potter, no matter what the prat might think.

Surprisingly none of the usual taunts associated with Draco came; the man was all about the fight. And then Harry realised something; with his long, matted hair, now greying in places, coupled his tatty robes meant that Draco Malfoy simply did not recognise Harry Potter for who he was.

Harry quickly decided that that would have to change; he wanted this little prick to know exactly who it was who killed him.

Deflecting a nasty bone-breaker curse, Harry shook his head and taunted "Tut tut, Draco. I see that time has done nothing to improve your skills in combat. Let's see how you do against this one; an old favourite…"

Draco Malfoy's eyes widened in recognition and (Harry was pleased to note) no small amount of fear.

"Potter!" he exclaimed.

Harry smirked and answered "The one and only." before casting his spell "_Sectumsempra!"_

Draco Malfoy was so surprised at encountering Harry Potter right in the middle of the Dark Lord's headquarters that he didn't even think of throwing up a shield charm until it was too late. He screamed in agony as, for the second time in his life, he felt the pain of numerous slash-like wounds opening up all over his body. As with the first time, it was once again Harry Potter who had caused this pain. He dropped to the ground, whimpering and jerking feebly with the pain of it all.

"Such a shame for you," Harry commented, standing over the body of his rival of his school years "that there is no Severus Snape here this time to safe your pathetic life."

"Is that what you think Potter?" asked a cold, snide voice from the shadows nearby.

Padma, having just dispatched of the last Death Eater, whirled around as Harry looked up from Malfoy's body.

Severus Snape, hook nosed, sallow skinned and as greasy-haired as he had always been, stepped out of the shadows.

"I have waited a long time for you to get here." the man said.

"I bet you have." snarled Harry, pointing his wand at the person he hated second-most in this world (Snape had gotten an upgrade following the death of Umbridge.)

Padma immediately placed herself between Harry and Snape, her back to Harry as she faced one of the most hated professors in the history of Hogwarts School "I'll deal with him Harry; you've got a task to do."

Snape sneered "How very touching." he commented snidely "I see people will still follow you blindly Potter. Tell your companion to leave; you and I have much to discuss."

"I have nothing to discuss with the likes of you." retorted Harry, his voice little more than a growl "The only interaction I want with you is to watch that malevolent light leave your evil black eyes as you bleed to death at my feet. _Reducto!_"

The spell shot from the tip of Harry's wand and Snape only just managed to dive to the side; a good sized chunk of the wall behind him being blown apart rather than his torso.

When Snape came up, he came up firing curses. Harry and Padma both blocked his initial volley and then returned in kind.

Drawn by the sound of spell-fire, three more Death Eaters arrived on the scene at a run and immediately joined the fray.

Harry and Padma moved to stand back to back, fighting and shielding at all angles; Padma fighting the new arrivals, Harry focusing on Snape, who was by far the most skilled and dangerous of their opponents.

Padma got one of the Death Eaters, and then the second immediately afterwards.

The third got her with the torture curse.

He screams distracted Harry for a moment, and he spun away from Snape to brutally execute Padma's torturer.

Gasping for breath, Padma turned to look at Harry, and her eyes widened in fear.

Harry felt Snape's spell whizz past him. It struck Padma's body with a flash of blue light and she was thrown through the air to crash through a banister and vanish down the staircase leading below.

Harry gaped. Just as he was about to move to see if she was alright, he felt the tip of a wand press into his neck.

"Now you will listen to me, Potter."

At the sound of Snape's voice, Harry's concern from his friend twisted into a bubbling, boiling anger.

A pulse of raw magical energy left Harry's body and Severus Snape found himself thrown violently against the wall behind him, his wand dropping from his hand to the floor. As Harry turned slowly to face him, Snape realised that he was stuck there. But that quickly became the least of his problems as the furious Harry Potter rounded upon him.

"You wish to give me information?" Harry questioned; a decidedly deadly tone to his voice "Let me ask something of you first. Through all my years at Hogwarts you were nothing but a bastard to me and my friends. You took a sick and perverse pleasure in taunting me about my father every single chance you got. You deliberately taught your classes poorly and took great joy in criticizing the poor results your students gained as a result. You victimised my friends whilst relishing the knowledge that they could do nothing against you because, despite everything that senile old fool Dumbledore would always vouch for you and protect you from all attempts at retaliation. You completely failed to put your hatred for my father aside in order to properly teach me occlumency as Dumbledore requested of you; something which ultimately led to the death of my godfather, an event you joyously took pleasure in. You routinely failed to reign in and discipline those students in your house, and instead often encouraged their sinister and malicious activities, causing them to grow up believing themselves untouchable. You murdered Albus Dumbledore, a man who trusted you unreservedly, right before my eyes and then helped the servants of the Dark Lord to evade capture. You took over the school and allowed Death Eaters onto the staff. You allowed students in your supposed care to be tortured and killed. You personally murdered Remus Lupin, the last link I had to my parents, as well as many others in the service of your evil master and you just blasted my comrade, my friend down a staircase, quite possibly killing her in the process. You then show no remorse for this or any other of your evil and/or spiteful deeds throughout your life, and yet you expect me to listen to your supposed information? In what deluded state of mind would I have to be in in order to listen to any information coming from you, far less believe one single iota of it?"

Severus Snape offered up no answer to this. What could he possibly say? Years of contemptible behaviour on his part was now going to ensure that the final part of Dumbledore's plan would not be implemented. Potter had made it abundantly clear to him; even if he were to tell Potter the entire truth, the younger wizard would not believe a word of it.

He had no reason to.

Harry aimed his wand at Snape's stomach and said "Amycus Carrow is long gone, so I'll use you in his stead. I know he used this one to great effect on Seamus Finnigan, twenty years ago."

Snape's eyes widened in horror in recognition, remembering all to well the event that had started the Battle of Hogwarts all that time ago.

"Yes, Severus," said Harry in a similar tone to one in which one might comment on the weather "I know everything that happened that night." He brought his hand up to his forehead and pulled his lank and matted hair away to reveal his lightning-bolt shaped scar "Your master made sure I saw all of it; every death of every friend and acquaintance, the brutal murders of your fellow staff members, right down to that little Hufflepuff first year that dear Draco lying over there struck down as she tried to flee. I killed him personally and now I shall do the same for you, before ending the life of your beloved master once and for all. Goodbye, Snivellus. May you burn in the raging fires of hell forever more. _Secare Dimidium!_"

The spell cut Severus Snape clean in half and he died rather quickly from shock and blood-loss. Harry stood there and watched him die before dashing over to the staircase.

Looking down he saw Padma lying a few feet below him. He rushed down to her and was relieved to find her alive. Both her legs were broken, however, as was her left arm.

"Gotta get you somewhere safe." Harry muttered, looking around for somewhere where he could put her, somewhere out of harm's way.

With her good hand, however, Padma pushed him away "Harry, don't worry about me. Get to the Headmaster's office."

"I'm not leaving you here." protested Harry.

"Finish this." Padma urged him "Nothing and no one is more important than that."

Harry gazed at her for a long moment before giving a reluctant nod of his head and leaving her. At the top of the staircase he looked back once more before continuing on, making sure to spit on Snape's body as he passed it.

Padma watched Harry go and held herself together until his footsteps faded into the distance. Then she allowed her composure to slip.

"Shit, that hurts."

"Well, well, what do we got here?"

Padma looked to the base of the staircase, where ten wizards were gathered. She recognised the first as being Scabior, a notorious wizard who, early on in the war, had been largely responsible for the activities of the snatchers as they went around rounding up all the Muggleborns.

"Looks like we got ourselfs an infiltrator." Scabior continued, much to the enjoyment of his cohorts "A pretty little bit o' fresh meat." He made to approach, but quite suddenly his head vanished into a fine mist. Padma looked to the top of the stairs and saw what remained of the two groups standing there. Help had arrived.

As the others engaged Scabior's allies in combat, Rose crouched down next to Padma and handed her a pain relief potion out of her bag. Once the older witch had downed it, Rose asked "Where is Harry?"

"He went on to the Headmaster's office." Padma answered before offering up directions to said office.

On her way to the Headmaster's office, Rose thankfully only encountered one more Death Eater, one who was easily fended off. She did, however, see a good dozen others who were already dead, or if not then in the process of dying.

Following Padma's directions exactly, she soon found herself at the entrance to the office. The stone gargoyle that acted as a security guard was lying in pieces to one side, leaving the entranceway completely open. Rose hurried though it and climbed the staircase beyond.

Inside the office her eyes immediately landed upon Harry. To her immense relief he had succeeded in finding the Sword of Gryffindor, which he now held above his head in readiness to strike. The three Horcruxes, the Locket of Slytherin, the Cup of Hufflepuff and the Diadem of Ravenclaw were laid out upon the desk before him; all that remained was for Harry to strike each one in turn.

But something was wrong.

Very wrong.

The sound of words being spoken in the language of the snakes, parseltongue, filled the air. There were three voices, all sounding very much alike, one coming from each Horcrux. They were speaking to Harry, and Rose could see his will to destroy them rapidly deteriorating. Their hold over him, particularly that of the Locket, was quickly winning out.

Desperate to get through to him she shouted over the voices "Harry, don't listen to them! Do it now! Destroy them!"

His eyes came up to look at her for a moment before moving back to the three Horcruxes.

"Harry!" she called to him, but this time he didn't respond.

A sudden movement behind Harry caught her eye, and she saw it. The giant serpent, Nagini, Lord Voldemort's dreaded familiar and sixth Horcrux was coiled up atop a large bookcase.

Her full attention was on Harry.

Rose yelled with all that she had, managing to break Harry out of his trace-like state with a screamed "SNAKE!"

Harry whirled around and made a violent slashing motion with the sword. Mid-strike, the head of the huge serpent was cut clean from the rest of her body. The head sailed through the air to land with a thump upon the floor at the foot of the desk as the rest of the snake's body jerked and thrashed violently with death throes.

One Horcrux was down.

Relief flooded through Rose's system, but it was cut short very quickly for, as Harry was just raising the sword once again to strike the Locket Horcrux, someone else arrived.

Someone entirely unwelcome.

Voldemort had instructed his serpent familiar to remain behind and watch for possible infiltrators, a tactic which he had come to expect from his enemies. Keeping a mild mind-link open between himself and his familiar, he had seen Harry Potter enter the office and empty the Horcruxes onto the desk. He ordered Nagini to restrain him, but that ended with the snake's head being separated from her body. Immediately he disapparated from the field of battle, intent upon making Potter pay. Upon arrival, however, he quickly realised just how much danger he and his Horcruxes were in all thoughts of torturing Potter were forced from his mind as his self-preservation instincts kicked in. He raised his wand and fired his spell.

It was not the sickly green colour of the killing curse, but rather it was a spell blacker than the night itself.

Rose screamed as the spell hit Harry with a bang. The entire room filled with darkness and she heard an explosion, a yell of pain and then the sound of a body falling to the floor.

When the darkness faded, Rose immediately realised three things; Harry and the sword were gone, there was a hole in the wall at the opposite end of the room that most certainly had not been there just moments before, and Voldemort was lying sprawled in a heap upon the floor.

Sometimes "What the hell?" just didn't fully convey one's confusion. It certainly didn't convey Rose's feeling as to the current situation.

* * *

**A/N: So what do you think? Sorry for the evil cliff-hanger but sometimes stories just have to have them. Anyway, in this chapter I hope I successfully conveyed my feelings on Snape, Draco and that little fanfiction exclusive, the Rose/Scorpius pairing.**

**In other news, the world is supposed to end tomorrow. I don't believe it really, but I also believe in not tempting fate, which is why I uploaded this so soon after the last chapter, as I was on thirteen. Then again, I don't suppose it's really fair to leave you facing the end of the world on a cliff-hanger… oh well, I'm sure we'll live… maybe. If we all die, then I'll just say that it has been fun to write for you. If not, then have a Merry Christmas (or whatever you happen to celebrate at this time of year), though hopefully I'll get another update done by then.**

**See ya!**

**-Personal Update - 21st December 2012 - According to the news this morning, the end of the world was meant to happen at 11:11am today. It is now 12:30pm and, thankfully I am still alive. Are you?**


	15. Between Life and Death

**A/N: Well, we all survived 21/12/12. And Christmas has come and gone. What did Father Christmas bring you? I got lots that I wanted, but sadly I still don't own the Harry Potter franchise, so this is all still for fun and is without profit for me. Oh well… maybe next year.**

* * *

**A Darkened World**

Between Life and Death

Harry's eyes opened slowly. He was lying face down upon a solid surface, and he appeared to be alone, judging from the complete lack of sound around him. He braced his hands against the floor and pushed himself up. Looking around he was greeted by the sight of a bright white mist that seemed stretch on and on in all directions.

It was a little disconcerting.

Far more disconcerting was the fact that he was completely naked. Looking down at himself, he was quite surprises to find that his nakedness was revealing a great difference in himself. He wasn't thin and gaunt anymore; the ribs beneath his skin could no longer be counted visually, instead he found his chest to be nicely toned with muscle. He found his arms to be the same, as well as his legs. A thought came to him and he brought his left hand up to his forehead to check…

No scar. The lightning-bolt shaped scar that had marred his forehead for longer than he could remember had faded, leaving smooth, unblemished skin in its place.

He looked along his arms, and found that the scars there were missing too; the one where the poisonous fang of Salazar Slytherin's Basilisk had pierced his arm as he drove the sword of Gryffindor through the roof of its mouth and into its brain was gone, and so was the one created by the knife that the traitor Peter Pettigrew had used to steal his blood to return Voldemort to life so many years ago.

Harry stood to his feet and twisted himself to check for another scar. To his relief the scar on his right buttock put there by Uncle Vernon whacking him with a fire poker at the age of six was also gone.

His relief was quickly overwhelmed by a shiver. While not exactly freezing, the air around him was not all that warm, and Harry was naked. He found himself with a sudden desire for clothes.

Almost as if in answer to his thought, Harry suddenly spotted white robe, lying folded upon the floor amongst the surrounding mist. He quickly made his way over to it, picked it up and swung it around his shoulders.

As he was tying the chord of the robe around his middle, Harry heard it. It was a strange sound, kind of like a whimper. The sound was followed by a pitiful moan.

Harry turned towards the sound and saw a wooden table that he was most certain had not been there moments before. Cautiously he approached it and looked beneath.

What he saw there made him recoil. The last time he had seen anything that even remotely resembled that thing was when Peter Pettigrew had dumped it in the cauldron that contained the potion that would give Voldemort his new body.

Worried now, Harry began to look around, half expecting the real Voldemort to be standing behind him. Instead what he saw came as a surprise to him.

He was back in the tent; the tent in which he had spent more than half of his entire life.

Only it was much cleaner, with everything tidied away and organised. And the furniture, though the same, was like new, rather that badly worn.

When the voice spoke, Harry nearly jumped right out of his skin.

"Hello, Harry Potter."

With a startled yelp, Harry spun around and came face to face with a familiar young woman; one whom he had seen tortured to death hundreds of times in his nightmares in the years since it had happened.

"Luna?" he half stated, half asked, in a weak voice.

She smiled a smile that he hadn't seen in so many long years and held a hand out to come "Come. Let us walk."

Almost instinctively, and without the slightest bit of hesitation on his part, Harry took her hand and allowed her to lead him out of the tent.

Outside the tent, Harry felt fresh, healthy grass caress the soles of his feet as they walked. The by now familiar mist still hung in the air, hiding their more distant surroundings from view.

Harry finally found the courage to talk, to ask the question that seemed oh so important "Where are we Luna?"

"We are in the in-between." replied Luna "We are neither in the realm of the living nor the realm of the dead. We are at the point where the cross-over between the two occurs."

"So… am I dead?" Harry questioned

"No, you are not dead. Nor are you alive." answered Luna

"What am I then?" he asked, feeling confused.

"I already told you; in the in-between; neither alive nor dead. You are between the two realms." said Luna.

"How am I not dead, though? Surely my being blasted though that wall and then falling all that way to the ground must have killed me."

"It was." replied Luna "You wouldn't be here otherwise. But you were protected."

"Protected?"

Luna nodded and reached up with her right hand to place two fingers upon his forehead where his scar used to be "Right here. That's where it resided; a piece of Voldemort's soul."

"A piece of… so I was a-"

"A Horcrux? Yes you were. An unintentional one too, I might add."

Harry thought for a moment before asking "So that's what I saw under the table in the tent?"

"I expect so. It is being picked up now, by death himself, as payment for your coming here."

"Does that mean I could leave here and carry on living?"

"If you wanted to."

"I have that choice?"

"Oh, yes."

"You mean I don't have to complete the prophesy?"

"Staying here would complete it. Remember: "_neither can live while the other survives_?" If you stayed here, you would be dead, and Voldemort would live. Prophesy done."

Harry decided not to ask how Luna knew the prophecy, and instead chose to say "But then he could never die."

"No." replied Luna "But then, the prophesy only said that you could kill him, not that you should. You are not as bound by it as you might think. It is down to what you want."

Harry turned away from Luna and looked around himself. The mist had retreated further, but showed nothing more than a grassy field stretching out in all directions. At some point he and Luna had sat down without him realising it.

He laid back on the grass as he thought about his situation. Above him was a bright blue sky filled with fluffy white clouds. Luna laid down next to him.

After a few long moments he said "All my life, I have suffered. I have been pushed around and beaten. I have been lied to, and stabbed in the back, betrayed and abandoned, and those I have cared for either left me or were killed."

"So what is it you want?" asked Luna.

"I want to be at peace." he said in reply.

"A commendable goal, Harry Potter. But are you sure that death is the best way to do it?"

Harry turned his head to look at her "What do you mean?"

In answer, Luna merely raised her hand towards the sky "This is what is happening right now in the realm of the living."

Above them the clouds began to darken and swirl until they met in a central point before parting as a ring. In the middle of the ring of clouds, an image appeared. It was of the camp of the International Confederation of Wizards. Voldemort's forces had brought their full power against all those within the camp, and the dark side was winning. Fiendfyre raged, burning everything in its path. Deadly curses sailed through the air, cutting some apart, blowing up others and causing others to simply drop to the ground, lifeless. As Harry watched, a bleeding Giant broke through the ranks of several US Aurors and grabbed in its huge hand the man they were trying to protect; the US Minister for Magic. The life was crushed out of the man as, not too far away, Bellatrix Lestrange brutally executed the Japanese Minister.

The scene changed. Padma was still lying on the stairs, unable to move. Nearby her remaining companions were doing battle with yet another group of Death Eaters left behind to protect the castle from intruders whilst the rest of Voldemort's forces waged war upon the ICW camp. If one of those Death Eaters got past the group, Padma was as good as dead.

The scene changed again to show Rose. She was still in the headmaster's office, leaning out of the whole in the wall through which Harry had been blasted. She was calling out into the darkness for him in the faint hope that he was somehow alright. Behind her Voldemort, although unconscious, was still breathing. As they watched, Rose backed away from the hole, her face contorted with anguish. She looked around herself, and her eyes landed on the Sorting Hat, sitting undisturbed and covered in dust upon the shelf behind the desk. She hurried over to it and pulled it onto her head. Although her plea was silent, Harry and Luna still heard it, along with the intense note of desperation it contained.

"_Help me. Please."_

The scene changed once more. A woman, pale and far too thin, was sitting on a bed in a darkened room. Her knees were pulled up under her chin, her arms wrapped around her legs as she rocked back and forth, tears stinging her eyes. And Harry knew instinctively who she was.

"Hermione." he said, his voice barely above a whisper.

Luna nodded "She's been like that ever since news of her daughter's disappearance reached her. No one thought to pass on the message that Rose has been found."

Harry suddenly didn't know what to feel. Hermione's abandonment of him still hurt him deeply, even after all this time, but something about seeing her like that…

"You don't hate her Harry." Luna said, as though she could read his thoughts (something Harry had had cause to believe on several occasions before).

Harry tried to get to his feet, but Luna pulled him back down before looking directly into his eyes "I know she doubted, but she did not doubt you. She doubted both Dumbledore and the mission he set you. Never for a second did she doubt you."

"She left." said Harry.

"She tried to stop Ron leaving." replied Luna, gesturing skywards.

Harry looked up and saw it; that painful moment that occurred so many years ago. Ron was storming towards the ward line in a rage. Hermione was hurrying along behind him in a panic, pleading desperately with him to return to the tent; speaking words that Harry hadn't heard on the day in question, them being drowned out by the harsh wind and hammering rain. Ron had just gotten past the ward line when Hermione finally caught up. She reached out and grabbed his arm "Ron, please-" But it was too late. With a crack Ron disapparated. And Hermione, her hand maintaining a firm grip on his arm out of desperation, was taken too.

Harry felt like he had been punched hard in the stomach; all the air had been forced out of him. As he watched his much younger self retreat back into the tent, one thought was prevalent in his mind: Hermione hadn't meant to go.

However, one question came to the front of his mind, and he asked it without really expecting an answer from Luna "But if she didn't mean to leave, why didn't she come back?"

"She couldn't." Luna answered simply "Think about it; what happened to Ron when Hermione unexpectedly apparated you out of Grimmauld Place when the Death Eater Yaxley followed you there?"

Harry blinked a couple of times before answering "He got splinched."

Luna gave a nod and replied "And so did Hermione. And seeing as Ron is a far less capable magic user that Hermione, he did a far worse job of apparating with her then she did with the two of you."

The need to know quickly won out against his dread of finding out, Harry asked "How bad?"

"Half her right calf muscle, six toes, her left hand, three fingers on her right hand, part of her left ear and her right eye were missing when they arrived outside the Burrow." answered Luna "A splinching is easily solved if you can find the missing body parts, like they did with Susan Bones' legs during your apparition lessons at Hogwarts. However, Ron also splinched himself, opening up his old wound as well as losing several more pieces of himself. Neither he nor Hermione were in any fit state to tell anyone else where they had come from and no one at the Burrow knew how to track their apparition path, so their wounds had to be treated through other means. You only have to look at Mad Eye Moody to know how hard it actually is for wizards to re-grow eyes, especially without proper medical assistance. Fortunately for Hermione they managed to repair everything, but it was a month and a half before she was fit to do anything, despite her protests. By the time she could go back to where your tent was, you had gone. And though she frequently checked every one of the places where you had previously camped, you path never crossed with hers again. And all too soon, she was forced to leave Britain with everyone else."

Harry remained silent for several very long minutes as he digested that bit of news. Then he found that he just has to ask "Rose told me what she knows of how her parents got together and had her. Was that the entire truth?"

"As far as Rose knows? Yes."

"And the real truth?"

"Ron forced himself on Hermione when she was still recovering. She was ashamed that she couldn't fight him off, and terrified of what he would do to her if she said anything."

Harry nodded thoughtfully, and then asked "Why did Ron become what he did?"

Luna thought for a moment before replying "Ron's actions were mostly due to an increased level of jealousy, depression and anger, as well as the influence of the Horcrux. To his mind Hermione left you with him, chose him, even though it was unintentional. That Hermione clearly regretted it and would rather have been cold and suffering with you than warm and safe with him was just too much for him to take. Combined with his own guilt at abandoning you Ron quickly began on a dark downwards spiral that made him who he ended up being."

Harry remained quiet for a while as the fate of his one-time best friend sank in. He tried to find some sympathy for the red-head, but found it very hard. It would be easy to blame all of Ron's shortcomings on the Locket, but the curse of the Horcrux did not work like that. Those feelings had to be there, at least on some level, to begin with. Sure the Horcrux had made those things worse, at least initially, but Harry and Hermione had managed to wear the Horcrux alright without ranting and raving at each other; at least until Ron had started that ill fated argument.

Finally Harry spoke again "I've got to go back, haven't I?"

"I already answered that Harry." replied Luna "You don't _have_ to do anything. The choice to go back or go on is entirely yours to make. The question is, do you want to go on and be with your parents and friends now, or do you want to win your war, avenge their deaths and have a bit of happiness in your life before going on to be with your parents and friends?"

"I have all the Horcruxes." said Harry.

"You do." replied Luna "And there are ways to destroy them ready at your disposal. With the piece of Voldemort's soul gone from your scar, their influence over you would be greatly weakened."

"Voldemort has the Elder wand."

"He does. But you have the other two Hallows."

"Really? I know I have the cloak, but the stone…"

"Will be found at the close." Luna replied, cryptically.

Harry's eyes lit up in recognition "So the doddering old fool was good for something useful then?"

Luna shook her head "Not really. He knew about the Horcrux behind your scar. The Resurrection stone was intended to be his final manipulation of you; using the ghostly spectres of your parents to encourage you to walk to your death."

"That was the important information Snape had for me, wasn't it?"

Luna nodded "Yes, but don't feel bad about not listening to him; there were many ways in which the Horcrux within you could have been gotten rid of, and it has been. You just robbed the greasy git of the pleasure of sending you to your death himself."

Harry nodded.

Luna got to her feet and brushed herself off "Well, the decision is now yours to make, Harry Potter. To go back, simply return to your tent. To go on, just follow me."

Harry got up and pulled Lune into a hug. He felt rather than saw her smile as she nuzzled into his shoulder. Then she pulled back and, with a smile on her face and a tear in her eye, she turned and began to walk away.

Harry had the strongest urge to follow her. He turned and looked towards the tent, and then back at Luna.

The choice was his to make, but he no longer knew exactly what he wanted.

* * *

"Harry?" Rose called desperately for the sixth time "Harry, are you there?"

She was inside the Headmaster's office, leaning out through the hole in the wall through which Harry had been blasted only moments earlier. She couldn't see Harry anywhere below, and he gave no vocal response to her calls.

She pulled back from the hole, tears stinging in her eyes. She was well aware that Voldemort was lying unconscious behind her, and without Harry, it would be up to her to end him once and for all. The problem was, when Harry was blasted through the wall, the sword of Gryffindor was taken with him.

She looked around the room frantically for something, anything that would help her. And she saw it; the only, tatty, worn black wizard's hat, sitting upon the shelf behind the headmaster's desk, covered in a thick layer of dust.

And it occurred to her; hadn't her mother once told her about Harry's adventure in the Chamber of Secrets? Hadn't Harry, on that particular adventure pulled the Sword of Gryffindor out of the Hogwarts Sorting Hat?

Would it work for her? She had never attended Hogwarts, and thus never sorted into a house, but would she be found worthy? Would she be able to summon the sword?

She made her way over to the hat, took it from the shelf and put it on top of her head.

Desperately she wordlessly pleaded "Help me. Please."

And a voice answered her "Unite the founder's artefacts, young one, and earn their power."

Then, as though squeezed by some invisible hand, the hat contracted and something solid knocked against the top of Rose's head. She pulled off the hat and reached inside it. From within she drew the ruby-hilted silver sword of Godric Gryffindor. As the blade gleamed in the light provided by the flaming torches on the walls around the room, Rose thought about what the voice from within the hat had said, and she recalled the book she had read in the tent so long ago; the paragraph that referred to the uniting of the artefacts of the Hogwarts founders.

And without thinking, she did it. She hung the Locket around her neck, placed the Diadem across her forehead, sat the Sorting Hat atop her head, held the cup in one hand, and grasped the hilt of the sword in the other.

She felt powerful magic pulse through her body. The Locket, Diadem and Cup began to glow brightly, and she understood; they were purifying themselves of their dark taints so that they could perform the tasks for which they were originally intended. A far higher magic, created by the founders of Hogwarts themselves, was undoing what Voldemort had done.

Three loud screams filled the air and from each of the three remaining Horcruxes a green mist seeped. The screams came from the mist, and continued until the each mist faded.

And then the voice of the Sorting Hat came to her again "The power of Hogwarts Castle is at your disposal, young one. What to you command?"

"She will command nothing!" shrieked a voice "Hogwarts is mine! _Avada Kedavra_!"

Voldemort was back on his feet, and had seen what had happened to his last remaining Horcruxes.

Rose turned just in time to see Voldemort raised her wand. Quick as a flash, and not entirely of her control, her right arm came up and the killing curse struck the Sword of Gryffindor, bounced off of it and smashed into the opposite wall.

Voldemort gave a scream of rage and raised his wand to fire off another curse when suddenly the hand holding the Elder Wand was cut clean off.

Both Rose and Voldemort watched wide eyed as the hand fell to the floor with a soft thud. The fingers fell open, and the wand shot out of the hand's clutches. Both pairs of eyes followed the wand through the air until a hand came up and caught it.

Harry Potter stood by the hole in the wall, his own wand in his left hand, the Elder wand in his right.

"How?" hissed Voldemort "I killed you, I saw it with my own eyes."

"That is none of your concern." replied Harry "Right now; you have more serious things to worry about, for I, unlike you, am now the master of death."

Keeping the Elder wand aimed at Voldemort, Harry pocketed the other and then pulled open the mokeskin pouch that hung around his neck. From within he drew first his cloak of invisibility, which he draped around his shoulders. Then he pulled out the small golden snitch that had been left to him by Albus Dumbledore. He placed the small object to his mouth and pressed his lips to it.

Slowly the golden body of the snitch opened up and a tiny stone rose out of it. Harry shoved the snitch into his pocket, and then took the stone into his hand.

"Behold, the treasures of the three Peverell brothers; the three Deathly Hallows; the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility."

Harry's bright, emerald green eyes locked onto Lord Voldemort, who, for the first time in decades, wore a look of pure fear upon his face.

And, echoing words spoken to him in the graveyard of Little Hangleton over twenty five years previously, Harry spoke "Bow to death, Tom."

* * *

**A/N: So how was that? I had originally intended for Lily to be the one to talk to Harry when between life and death, but looking back I realised that Luna's death had such a bad effect on Harry that it really needed to be her. Plus, I've already done a story where he met Lily there.**

**For Hermione haters, sorry but this is the way I always planned it. Even in canon when Ron reveals that he and Hermione had been talking behind Harry's back, it was out of disappointment at their lack of information. Hermione never doubted that Harry had told them everything he knew, but was disappointed by the lack of what he knew. And her leaving was always intended to have been accidental.**

**In case you are wondering about the founder's artefacts, go back and re-read Chapter 6, as it is explained there. Voldemort never knew of the potential power, and never wore all five items, that's why he never had their power.**

**UPDATE: 30/12/12**** I've added a little bit wherein Luna explains some of Ron's behaviour, just to clear the issue up.**


	16. Endgame

**IMPORTANT A/N! I ADDED A LITTLE BIT TO THE LAST CHAPTER WERE LUNA OFFERS A LITTLE EXPLANATION FOR SOME OF RON'S EXREME BEHAVIOUR. I DON'T THINK IT'LL AFFECT HOW THE STORY ENDS, BUT ITS THERE IF YOU WANT THE ISSUE CLEARED UP A LITTLE.**

**- Happy New Year! Seeing as we were all meant to die on the 21/12/2012 and it is now 03/01/2013, I'd say we're doing pretty good.**

**Anyway, on with the story.**

* * *

**A Darkened World**

Endgame

_-From Previous Chapter-_

_"Behold, the treasures of the three Peverell brothers; the three Deathly Hallows; the Elder Wand, the Resurrection Stone and the Cloak of Invisibility."_

_Harry's bright, emerald green eyes locked onto Lord Voldemort, who, for the first time in decades, wore a look of pure fear upon his face._

_And, echoing words spoken to him in the graveyard of Little Hangleton over twenty five years previously, Harry spoke "Bow to death, Tom."_

* * *

Down upon the battlefield, the swarming Dementors suddenly became still and quiet. They positioned themselves upright and held their heads high, as though sensing a change in the air. Two of the largest amongst them turned to look at each other before both spun around with identical swishes of the long black cloaks and began to return towards the castle with haste. Across the battlefield every other Dementor did the same.

The Vampires noticed them leaving, and then they too detected a change in the air. Each Vampire dissolved into an eerie black haze before they too began to speed back towards the castle.

Being undead, and therefore very tricky to get rid of, the Dementors and Vampires between them constituted a fairly large portion of the Dark Lord's army, making up around forty percent of the total force. Light and Dark forces alike could not fail to notice that number of units vacating the battlefield.

Slowly the fighting quelled; wands stopped firing spells and the air became almost deathly silent as every eye turned towards Hogwarts castle.

* * *

Tom Riddle was on the ground, down on his knees, his arms outstretched, his body rocking back and forth as he begged.

"Please Potter, please show mercy."

Harry sneered and delivered a violent kick to Voldemort's side, breaking several of his ribs.

"And what have you done to make you worthy of mercy, Tom Marvolo Riddle?" he practically hissed as Voldemort collapsed onto his side, clutching his ribs in agony "What have you done that warrants forgiveness?"

Rose stood to the side, leaning against the Headmaster's desk, electing to be a mere spectator to the fall of Voldemort.

At first Voldemort had refused to bow, and so Harry had made him; forcing the man's spine to bend against its owner's will.

He had then given Voldemort a taste of the same spell he had used on Dolores Umbridge at the Ministry of Magic: _Crucio Maxima._

It had only been a taste of the spell; ten seconds of it. Given that it had taken around thirty seconds for Umbridge to die from the spell, ten seconds was all that Harry had been prepared to hit Voldemort with.

"Please…" Tom begged pitifully "please…"

Harry pointed the Elder Wand at Voldemort's prone form and lifted the self-styled Dark Lord into the air. And there Voldemort remained; upright, off the ground and unable to do a thing about it.

Harry palmed the Resurrection Stone in his hand, looking at it thoughtfully, before turning his gaze back to Voldemort.

"You know, Tom; I think that there are some people that want to meet with you; some familiar faces from your past. Would you like to see them Tom?"

If possible, Voldemort's eyes widened even more fearfully as he frantically shook his head, unable to speak.

"Oh, but you really should, Tom." said Harry, who was now turning the stone over between his fingers "It would do you good to meet some of the faces of bygone days."

On the third turn of the stone it happened; shades of individuals long since departed from the realm of the living began to materialise out of thin air. Not quite ghosts, but certainly not living bodies, they began to appear, first one by one, and then, slowly, in groups.

Rose had no idea just who a lot of these people were in life, but there were more than a few that she recognised from photo albums and cuttings from old newspapers; members of the Order of the Phoenix, Aurors and Ministry officials, students of Hogwarts, shop keepers, journalists, even former followers of Voldemort; all people whom had been brave enough to stand against Voldemort and his army, or unlucky enough to have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Amongst those Rose actually recognised from years of researching the war were Neville Longbottom, Luna Lovegood, Rubeus Hagrid, Minerva McGonagall, Filius Flitwick, Garrick Ollivander, Amelia Bones, Rufus Scrimgeour, Kingsley Shacklebolt, and her Grandmother's brothers Gideon and Fabian Prewitt. There was a young woman who had to be Padma's twin sister Parvati, there was the wizard who was the Minister for Magic of Germany when his country fell. There was a woman who could only be Olympe Maxime who had made a valiant stand against Voldemort alongside the French Ministry at the Beauxbatons Academy in France.

And then there they were; Harry's long lost family; his godfather Sirius Black, his honorary aunt and uncle Remus and Dora Lupin and, finally, his parents; James and Lily Potter. Those five stood around him now, as if in a protective circle; James and Lily to the front, but slightly to the side, Remus and Dora on either side and Sirius behind him.

And then there came one more figure, taller than the rest. The crowd parted to let him walk to the front. His body was hidden by long, billowing black robes, his head covered by a black hood. Rose had never seen this individual in her life, but knew who he was instantly.

Death himself had come.

Death came to the front of the crowd and stood beside Harry. The two looked at each other before Harry gestured with his hand.

"He's all yours, my friend."

Death raised both of his arms, the sleeves of which pulled back to expose skeletal hands. Seemingly out of thin air a long and deadly looking scythe appeared in Death's hands. He held it in a firm grip and watched Tom Riddle for a few moments as the self-styled Dark Lord hung in the air, whimpering with fear.

The very thing that Tom Marvolo Riddle had feared so much for so long was now standing right in front of him, beside his mortal enemy, surrounded by the souls on his many victims.

Death turned slowly, held the scythe out to Harry and spoke in a deep yet rasping voice "It must be you, Chosen One."

Slowly Harry reached out and touched the scythe. When he didn't drop dead, he grasped it firmly with both hands and Death relinquished his hold upon it.

Harry turned to Voldemort and moved closer to him.

"Goodbye, Tom Riddle. May you burn in the fiery pits of hell for all eternity."

And then, with one swipe of the scythe, it was done.

The scythe left no mark; rather than cut open or pierce through Tom Riddle's body like an ordinary scythe would have done, Death's scythe passed through his body and came out again with his soul pierced upon the tip.

Or rather, what was left of his soul.

Voldemort's body, now lifeless, remained hanging in the air.

As Harry handed the scythe back to Death there came a sudden whooshing sound, as though a great wind was blowing.

Harry and Rose looked around and saw the shades of the dead were vanishing quickly, turning to mist and swirling around before disappearing entirely.

"What's happening?" asked Rose as the mists began to swirl in a ring all around them.

"We are moving on." replied Remus "We were trapped in purgatory until Voldemort met his end. Now that he is finished, we can move on."

Harry looked around at the faces he knew; the faces of friends, the faces of family, the faces of loved ones.

"You did it Harry." said Tonks "You won, just like we all knew you would."

"We couldn't be prouder of you, son." said James.

Harry came to a sudden decision and blurted it out before he could stop himself "I want to go with you."

Lily smiled at him but shook her head "You've been so brave, sweetheart, and you've suffered through so much. Enjoy what good life can now offer you before seeking to reunite with us."

Tears stung at Harry's eyes. He so wanted to go with them, but knew there to be truth in his mother's words, even before she continued.

"You have so much to enjoy, Harry; a proper home-cooked meal and a nice, comfortable bed."

"A pretty witch to share that bed." Sirius offered jokingly.

"A flight on a broom on a crisp, clear morning." added James.

"Read a good book in the shade of a tree on a warm summer's day." suggested Remus.

"And a holiday on a beach of white sands with a warm, clear sea and a bright sun in the sky." added Tonks.

"Life has so much to offer you." said Lily "Enjoy it, now that you can."

Harry nodded and then realised that nearly everyone had gone.

"See you, Harry." said Neville before vanishing.

Luna just offered him a smile and a wave before she too disappeared.

"And most importantly," said Sirius "Stop beating yourself up over our deaths."

He vanished.

"Yes," agreed Remus as he and Tonks began to fade "It is time to let go of the pain of the past."

Then they were gone.

"We will always love you." said James "We know that not having us around hurts, and it always will, but don't let it rule you."

And he was gone.

"Go on with your life Harry." said Lily "Go on and find peace… and love."

Then she too was gone.

Silence filled the air.

Rose watched, unable to say anything, as a tear rolled down Harry's cheek.

Harry broke the silence with a deep, shuddering breath before turning to look at Death "Voldemort's followers are still out there."

"Yes." replied the deep, rasping voice.

"They are overwhelming the army."

"True. But two groups of his followers now have a new leader; the Master of Death."

"Will you help?" Harry asked.

For a long moment, Death didn't answer. Then he gave one slow nod of agreement.

Harry turned to Rose and said to her "Clear the castle."

She nodded and held the founder's artefacts high "Hogwarts; hear me. Expel from within you all those who would corrupt you for their own evil ends. Return to your former glory."

Each of the artefacts glowed with a bright, golden light that quickly spread to fill first the office, and then every room and corridor beyond it.

"We should make for the field of battle." spoke Death.

Harry nodded and said to Rose "Do what you can here."

Then both he and Death left the office, taking Voldemort's body with them

Rose wondered what he meant, but then remembered what she knew about the founder's artefacts; particularly the Cup of Helga Hufflepuff which could negate the effects of any poison placed within it, and increase the power of any healing potion that was drunk from it.

It was a good thing that Rose had been given a few healing potions before leaving the camp.

* * *

Padma was lying on the stairs, and in a lot of pain. The world around her kept coming in and out of focus, and she was fairly certain that she didn't have long left.

At the base of the staircase she was lying on, what remained of her companions were battling valiantly against a group of Death Eaters, and losing. None had gotten near her yet, but she was certain that it was only a matter of time…

"What do we have here?"

She turned as best she could to look to the top of the staircase.

A Death Eater stood there, a transformed Werewolf at his side. A transformed Werewolf was one an unusual thing to see outside of a night of a full moon. Voldemort, however, was known to have invented a potion (though everyone suspected that it was actually Snape who did the inventing) that made the change a permanent one.

"Kill her, boy." the Death Eater ordered the Werewolf.

The Werewolf crouched, ready to pounce. Just as it sprang into the air towards Padma, the walls surrounding them took on a golden glow, and a sudden wind blew through the corridors. Both the Death Eater and the Werewolf were caught by the wind and blown right past Padma. Their fellows at the foot of the staircase were caught too and together they all vanished down the corridor and around a corner, out of sight.

Padma had only a few moments to wonder what the hell had happened when Harry and a cloaked figure she didn't know hurried down the staircase, Voldemort hanging prone in the air before them.

Before Padma could even think of asking what on Earth was going on, Rose was at her side, holding the Cup of Hufflepuff out to her. Padma took one glance at the potion inside before giving Rose a sceptical look.

"It's okay." said Rose "The Cup's been purified. There's no taint to it."

Padma nodded and drank deeply from the cup before looking up at Rose again and asking "What just happened?"

Rose smirked at her and replied "Harry Potter happened; that's what."

The remaining fighters who had accompanied them into the castle came over to them, each asking similar questions to Padma's.

* * *

Outside the castle, you did not need to be a genius to know that something had changed drastically.

It had begun with the Dementors and Vampires had abandoned the battle in favour of returning to the castle.

When everyone else, light and dark alike, for there seemed now to be a temporary and unspoken truce in place, had made their way towards the castle they had found that the tower containing the headmaster's office was glowing with a golden light. As they watched, it had spread along every turret and corridor to every room, hall and tower of the castle. The Great Hall and the Entrance Hall rebuilt themselves, as did the Entrance Courtyard, the Viaduct and the Covered Bridge. At the same time all the towers and turrets that had been built under Voldemort's regime began to crumble and fall.

The castle of Hogwarts was returning to its original state.

Then there came a powerful gust of wind and the bodies of fifty or so Death Eaters and another dozen Werewolves who were left behind to guard the castle from infiltrators were hurled through the air to land with a bone-breaking thud at the feet of their comrades.

And then out of the castle came two figures, moving at a run. The Dementors and Vampires moved to join them and together they charged towards the watchers. And before them, bound in mid-air was the corpse of Lord Voldemort.

Despair falling over them, and realising that the tide had been turned against them, some of the Death Eaters tried to flee, but their attempts to disapparate were blocked by a magical barrier.

The leaders of the ICW called orders and their Aurors were quickly rallied; their capabilities to apparate not blocked. They moved behind the ranks of the Dark and formed a deadly blockade that the Death Eaters and their remaining allies broke against as they tried to retreat from the wave of death coming at them from the direction of the castle.

Bellatrix and a few other like-minded individuals tried to rally the rest, but their imminent deaths struck fear into the hearts of most; it was not in the nature of a Death Eater to produce a patronus, the only thing known to effectively repel a Dementor.

And they were caught between the hammer and the anvil; unable to push past the wall of wands that blocked their retreat as the army of death struck their ranks.

The scythe of Death was a blur, slashing this way and that, robbing souls from the bodies of the living. The two wands; one of Holly and Phoenix feather, and one of Elder and Thestral hair moved with a deadly skill and accuracy; one shielding, the other dispatching of many foes. The vampires swirled and swarmed, sinking their piercing fangs into the flesh of many; and all the while Dementors whirled and circled, spreading fear and despair as they sucked the souls out of many a victim.

And so it came to be that in that hour it was done; after twenty five long and painful years, the second war against Lord Voldemort and his forces was over.

Harry Potter; the Boy-Who-Lived, the Chosen One and now the Master of Death had emerged victorious.

* * *

**A/N: So, how as that? The idea for this story mostly stemmed from the image of Harry uniting the three Deathly Hallows, calling on the deceased victims of Voldemort and his allies and charging into the final battle with them at his side, much like Aragorn and the Army of the Dead in Return of the King. However by the time I got here, that seemed a bit too much of a **_**Deus ex Machina**_** to use at this point. So instead I settled for Voldemort's victims seeing him die, and then Death and the Dementors and Vampires joining Harry's side; just seemed a little more believable that way. I can easily see Death commanding Dementors and Vampires in battle, and I always through that the title "Master of Death" should have more meaning to it than just possessing three trinkets.**

**There should just be an epilogue to go now.**


	17. Epilogue

**A Darkened World**

Epilogue

Hogsmeade station bustled with activity as the students jostled their way towards the carriages that would take them home from the recently ended school term. In the fifty years since the end of the war against Voldemort, the process of rebuilding had been slow. Very slow.

The war had decimated the human population all over the planet, and crippled the finances of many governments, both magical and muggle. Economies across the globe had collapsed and many countries had been forced to either unite with their neighbours as one country, or simply dissolved into nothingness, forcing their populace to move elsewhere.

Naturally this had caused conflict; people with different religious and political beliefs were forced together by circumstances far beyond their control, and in situations like that mankind rarely works things out quickly. Wars had raged and died out, more economies had buckled, society had splintered and healed countless times, and ultimately even more lives were lost as some tried to keep their power, some tried to add to theirs, and others lost all that they had.

Of course, no group of peoples suffered quite as much as the magical ones. Foremost in their run of problems was that, for most of the remaining magical populations, their law enforcement units had been devastated in battle. Secondly, the Ministries had paid dearly to fight the war in the first place, meaning that they had far less money to rebuild, and some things simply could not be fixed with a "Reparo" spell.

Worse, however, was the fact that muggles now new about magic. Under different circumstances the reveal of the existence of magic would have been accepted by large portions of muggle society. However, seeing as their current troubles had been born from a war of wizards, the muggles were not as accepting as they might have been. Muggle governments had someone to blame for their woes, and demanded reparations, which they were of course entitled to, although it only crippled the magical world further. And, hoping to avoid more conflict now that they were exposed, a good number of Ministries decided that it was in their best interests to pay up.

In some countries muggles waged war against the magicals, and the magicals did likewise in other countries. And in still other countries the magicals had no choice but to submit to muggle rule without a fight and simply hope for the best as they could afford no other option.

Rarely did any of these actions work out for the best.

India was one of the few places where magical/muggle conflicts had worked out well, though no one really understood why. In Australia the situation could be at best be described as "strained." Somehow wizards from Russia and China had managed to shrink back into hiding from their muggle counterparts. After years of negotiations and peace-keeping efforts both the US and Canada had officially resolved their issues between the magicals and muggles. However these countries still had places where magicals quickly learned to stay away from. Japan, along with the Central and South American, South-East Asian and African countries also suffered similar problems, though many were far worse than others.

Despite all efforts at peace, it wasn't long before it became necessary for alternative solutions to be found for the wizards. In the end the ICW met to discuss the issue, as it had come to affect all wizard-kind. In the end it was a witch from the USA who had voiced a possible solution: "How about Europe?"

At this point ten years had passed since the end of the war and Europe had yet to be re-populated. The human population had no need to make use of the space, and there was no money to set up such things anyway.

Whilst everyone had admitted that Europe was a possibility, it meant they would have to live in the shadow of the one they had all come to fear. The title of "Master of Death" had done nothing to increase people's opinions of Harry Potter, but it was rapidly becoming apparent that magical society was going to have to turn to him again in order to prevent their total collapse. In the end, they had taken their idea before their muggle counterparts; the United Nations (or what was left of them.) Their plan had been a simple one: move all of the magical populations left on Earth to the region formerly known as Europe and allow them to dwell there in peace. The plan had been a sound one; not only was Europe more than large enough to hold all the remaining wizards and witches, but also gigantic areas would be left over; areas that meant that magical creatures could be taken there as well.

Really the muggles had nothing to lose in trying the plan, and if it proved successful they could get rid of a large problem troubling their society, so they had agreed.

The only thing to do then was find Harry Potter and talk to him.

Harry's status following the war had been a strange one. Although India and Australia, amongst a couple of other countries, had offered to allow him citizenship, no one had really wanted the "Master of Death" around them, and Harry in return hadn't really wanted to be around them. With Europe abandoned, Harry had sort-of claimed the place for himself. He was known to have made Hogwarts castle his official home, but he didn't dwell there at all times.

As luck would have it, a group of representatives from both the ICW and the UN had arrived at Hogwarts at a time where Harry was actually there.

Harry hadn't been particularly pleased when they had turned up, but listened as they had pleaded their case. To be honest Harry had been more in favour of the idea of having all magical creatures moved to Europe than he was of the idea of the wizards and witches coming too. In the end, however, he had conceded to the benefits of the idea and within two months all the wizards and witches had moved. They repaired the ruins of London in the UK, Paris in France, Rome in Italy, Berlin in Germany and Madrid in Spain to start with, and these locations were more than capable of housing the remaining magicals. Getting these places up and running had taken time and effort, leaving an opening open for education. The end result was that the doors of Hogwarts School for Witchcraft and Wizardry had reopened, more than capable of housing and providing an education for the children of the remaining magicals, regardless of gender, blood status or race. The concerns of the populace about incurring the wrath of "The Master of Death" were quashed by the realisation that Hogwarts was, in fact, now the safest place for their children to be, as anyone would have to be mad to strike "The Master of Death" at his stronghold.

Forty years later, magical society had finally reached equilibrium, as had the muggle world beyond it. Economy was re-established, and the fight had gone out of most of those adverse to the necessary changes that society as a whole had had to go through.

By some kind of unwritten rule, Harry Potter had kind-of become the de facto head of the magicals. Although he had absolutely no intention of doing any such thing, the wizards were actually afraid that they might do something to incur his wrath and that he would set an army of Dementors and Vampires upon them, and so they regularly got his opinion on various matters, making sure he was included in plans for the way in which wizarding society should proceed.

It did annoy Harry from time to time, but again he saw the upside. Although he never threatened them in any way, the fact that he had the _potential_ to wipe them all out really helped in keeping people in line. He could quite easily have become a dictator if he had wanted to, but he didn't. He didn't need to as their own fears kept them in line. And it worked; only once did someone try and become the "New Dark Lord" and, out of fear of reprisal from Harry, the wizards united to take the guy down within a week. Sometimes fear of the consequences of one's actions, real or (as with this case) imagined, works as a far better deterrent than anything else society can come up with. Harry had no real interest in them, but as them thinking that he did made them behave, he saw no reason to try and convince them otherwise.

Now it was fifty years after the war, and the magical population had begun to grow again; so much so that a couple of new wings and towers had been added to Hogwarts. Harry had suggested simply opening another school, but actually everyone being taught the same values in the same place was doing too much good to convince anyone to change that.

With the reopening of the school had come the re-building of Hogsmeade village. Hogwarts no longer utilised enslaved House Elves and instead employed people to work at the castle as cleaners, launderers, groundskeepers, gardeners, cooks and maintenance workers. These were all roles that previous magical societies would have looked down upon, now they were great employment opportunities for many, especially as the purebloods could no-longer hold meaningless ministerial positions or rely on family wealth whilst the Muggleborns faded back into muggle society.

On the whole things for society, be it magical or muggle, were improving, and could only continue to do so.

However, it was time for the wizards to continue on under new guidance.

Harry Potter was now in his nineties. He was old and tired. He knew that it was time.

He stood atop the tallest tower of Hogwarts, and watched at the scarlet steam engine pulled away from Hogsmeade station in the distance. The train would travel first to London, then through the converted Channel Tunnel to France, before making stops throughout the rest of Western Europe.

For what would be the last time he watched the Hogwarts Express disappear over the horizon, and then turned to head back down to the Great Hall.

Following the defeat of Voldemort's forces at the Second Battle of Hogwarts, Death had taken his leave, returning to his own realm in the afterlife. The Dementors, Death Eaters and the spirits of all those who fell in that battle, both good and evil, had gone with him.

Rose, Padma and their remaining companions came out of the castle, and she began using the Cup of Hufflepuff to heal those with the worst injuries. Harry meanwhile had stood by to see what the next move of the leaders of the ICW would be. He had seen fear in their eyes, and doubt, but that same fear and doubt seemed to prevent them from saying anything. Although they had welcomed his joining of the battle, and the turn in the tide that it had caused, it was obvious that they were aware of the trouble that he now had the potential to cause.

Seeing that they were not antagonistic towards him, Harry set to other business. It was long past the time for a daughter to reunite with her mother.

The Australian officials had been nervous when he first approached them, but upon learning of his request they had practically fallen over themselves in their haste to comply.

Two days later, with most of those who had arrived for the battle having departed for their own homelands, an international port-key had arrived, bringing Hermione Granger within viewing distance of Hogwarts castle for the first time in over twenty years. Harry, who had been sitting talking with Padma at the time of her arrival, watched from a distance as mother and daughter shared a tearful reunion.

And then it happened. With absolutely no prompting from her daughter, Hermione's eyes spotted Harry. And suddenly the reunion that he had been both looking forward to and dreading for the past few days was upon Harry. And he realised that he could think of nothing to say. Once upon a time he would have wanted to rant and rave at her for abandoning him, but now he knew the truth. And how could he say anything about that when it was Hermione's secret to tell?

In the end, no words had been required. Rose took her mother's hand and led her over to Harry. The two childhood friends had looked at each other for a long minute, and then Harry found himself opening his arms. And suddenly she was in them, her own arms wrapping tightly around his chest as she began to cry into his shoulder. And as he held her, he felt his own tears beginning to build up and sting at the corners of his eyes until they too began to fall.

Both knew that there would be many long and exhausting discussions between them in the near future, but for now those could wait.

Harry Potter had his best friend back.

That evening, Harry, Hermione and Rose had met in the restored common room in Gryffindor Tower to talk. In the end the only way to truly put the past behind them had been to talk about it. Only once the whole truth was out could they work towards resolving any and all issues between them.

And they had.

For a long time afterwards, Harry took the advice of his family. He ventured all across Europe, from the sunny skies, beautiful beaches and clear waters of the Mediterranean to the rugged mountainsides and forest areas of the Alps. He enjoyed reading books in the shade of a tree on a warms summer's day. He got himself a broom and rediscovered the pleasures of flying. He enjoyed the modest home comforts that so many took for granted.

He did everything his family had advised him to do, and much more besides.

And each experience was made better simply by having Hermione at his side. Often Rose accompanied them, particularly for the first few years, but she had her own life to live.

When all the remaining wizards had come to live in Europe, Rose had bumped into a familiar face from her school days, a man called Anthony Rowland. To cut a long story short, Rose was now happily married with three children to call her own. Rose was more than happy that her mother and Harry had found happiness together, even though they did choose to not marry.

Padma was a frequent visitor, even before the "Great Move" at it was called nowadays. She eventually moved into the castle to serve as Defence Instructor, joining Hermione on the staff of the school, Hermione being the Muggle Studies teacher (a now mandatory course for all, including first years.) Padma never remarried, opting instead to find peace in her friends and in her work of teaching future generations to protect themselves.

A few of the remaining Weasleys, as well as a couple of other surviving acquaintances got in touch, and a level of friendliness returned, but things never quite returned to the same level as before.

Harry never really made up his mind whether or not to pay a visit to Ron in the prison where he was held. Even after the people in that prison were brought to a new prison in Europe, Harry didn't do it. He always felt that he should, but could never bring himself to go through with it. In the end fate intervened and Ron passed away. Harry had Rose lock the Resurrection Stone away, deep within Hogwarts so as to not be tempted to us it to try and contact Ron. With him dead, it was best that the whole thing remained in the past (as it would do Harry no favours to have a desire to punch Ron on the off chance that he wasn't apologetic enough, and not be able to do it.)

Harry's life had consisted of helping the wizards construct their new world. He had been extremely reluctant at first, and only did so in order to be civil. Then Rose, at the age of thirty three had given birth to her first child. With the words "Say hello, Granddad." Rose had placed the newly born baby girl into Harry's arms. The little thing had her Granddad wrapped around her little finger in an instant. And suddenly he found a new energy within himself. If the wizards wanted his help and advice to re-build then he sure as hell was going to give it. He vowed that his Granddaughter would not grow up in a world that was anything like the one her parents and grandparents had grown up in, Harry was determined of that much. That Rose wanted to call the girl Luna further cemented that resolve.

And by the way wizarding society was behaving at the moment; Harry had done that job well.

But Harry was old now. Normally a wizard or a witch could expect to go on for another decade or so with ease, and some could go on for another decade or two beyond that. But the harshness of the early half of his life was catching up to him. He was tired. He was weakening. He had aches and pains in every joint and muscle. And he knew from bitter personal experience that old men could lose touch with reality, especially if he was a wizard. Harry had done all that he could, and it was now time.

He arrived in the Great Hall to find his family waiting on him. None related by blood as Hermione had been unable to have any more children, but they were still his family; Rose, her husband and her three now grown up children, each now with their own partners and children. Each of them looked up and offered him watery-eyed smiles.

Hermione stood from her seat beside Rose and walked over to him with several _taps_ on the ground from her walking stick that aided her and her bad hip. Padma had a walking stick now as well, though in her case it was for her knee.

The two women had already said their goodbyes and now it was Harry's turn. He went around and spoke with everyone one last time, making sure to give out hugs and kisses wherever required. He spent a little extra time with Luna in order to make one final bug fuss over little Emma, the youngest of the family at just over a year old. He regretted not being able to see her grow up, but knew he would be able to watch over her from above.

Then he came to Rose, who embraced him in a tight hug before beckoning her mother to join them. Before they knew it the three were trapped in the middle of one large group hug, everyone savouring those final moments.

Then they all parted, and Rose placed into Harry's hand the resurrection stone that she had retrieved from its hiding place.

With a nod of determination, he turned away from his family and turned the stone over in him hand three times. Then, out of thin air, a ball of light appeared. Brighter and brighter it grew until the bottom touched the floor, and the top was ten feet in the air.

A figure appeared there, tall and dressed in black.

Death had come again.

Harry and Death approached each other and each greeted the other as friends, with the latter then asking "Are you sure that now is the time?"

Harry nodded "Now is the time."

He took the Elder Wand from his pocket, and held both it and the Resurrection Stone out towards Death "It is time these were returned to you, the one to whom they rightfully belong."

Death reached out a skeletal hand and accepted the two items.

"And this." added Harry, pulling his cloak from his shoulders; the cloak of invisibility.

Death took the cloak too.

Harry looked to Hermione and Padma, who both nodded, and linked arms with him. Then, both women letting go of their sticks, the three walked towards the light ahead of them.

Their family fought against their tears without much luck as the three walked forwards. Each one so desperately wanted to stop them from leaving. But then, right before they passed through the light, all three turned to look back at them over their shoulders and appeared to be young and healthy again, like much sorrow and weariness had been completely lifted from them, and all those watching knew, deep in their hearts, that this was the right option for them to take.

And then they were gone.

Harry, Hermione and Padma were unable to see anything but the light that now enveloped them, but a sensation from within pulled them forwards, compelling them to keep walking. And then the light faded, and they saw them; the familiar faces of friends and family long since departed.

They had left their family behind, but were now welcomed back into the arms of those who had gone before them, but never been forgotten.

And finally they were at peace.

Back in the land of the living, Death was walking towards the light as though to leave when he stopped. Then he turned and approached Rose. As he got to her he handed her the Invisibility cloak "Keep this on you, and pass it along your line. You might not be the Master of Death, but you may still use it to call on my aid should your need ever be great enough. The other two items had brought nothing but death and destruction, so I shall keep them."

With a nod, Rose took the cloak, and Death took his leave. The light faded and was gone.

Rose felt her husband's arm go around her, and heard his quiet question "Are you okay?"

Rose shook her head before resting it on his shoulder "No, but I will be."

It would be another forty years before Rose re-joined her parents. In the meantime she and her children continued Harry Potter's legacy; keeping peace in the world, and doing what was right, rather than what was easy.

All was not yet well, but it would be, given time.

/\/\/\/\/\

**A/N: How was that? I never know if an epilogue that I write goes well with the rest of the story, but I think that this one turned out okay. And if you don't like it then surely you can admit that its a better attempt than the crappilogue at the end of Deathly Hallows.**

**Before anyone asks, no Harry, Hermione and Padma did not get into some kind of three-person relationship. Padma loved her husband and refused to find another. She was their close friend, but nothing more.**

**Anyway I hope that this was at least satisfactory. That's the end of this one; thanks for reading and look out for the next one which, at the moment, looks like it might be an alternative fifth year fic in which Harry's Slytherin side comes out to play!**

**See ya!**


End file.
